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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27609415">I can’t believe you’re mine</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mcizzy/pseuds/Mcizzy'>Mcizzy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dynasty (TV 2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adoption, Fluff, Follow Fallon and Liam through adoption, My First Fanfic, Pregnancy, reference to miscarriage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:43:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>52,970</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27609415</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mcizzy/pseuds/Mcizzy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Follow Fallon and Liam through the process of adoption after a few years of infertility.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fallon Carrington &amp; Liam Ridley, Fallon Carrington/Liam Ridley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>70</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. I’ll follow your lead</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is my first fanfic so I apologize if it’s not great. I just decided to write this because it’s something different.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Liam?” Fallon called while searching for her husband in their manor</p><p>“In here!” He called back from the kitchen “how are you feeling?” He asked as soon as he saw her walk through the door into the room. </p><p>It had been about 3 weeks since Fallon’s fourth miscarriage and she had only been able to get out of bed a few times, other than going to the bathroom, due to being in so much pain. Her OBGYN and therapist had been coming to the manor for their appointments so she wouldn’t have to move from her spot on the bed.</p><p>“Better. I’m still having a little bit of cramping but it’s just like period cramps, I can finally get out of bed without being in excruciating pain.” She answered </p><p>“That’s great Fal! I am so proud of you.” He smiled</p><p>“Liam!” Fallon groaned</p><p>“I know, I know, you told me not to make a big deal about it but seeing what you keep going through makes me realize that you are so much stronger than I am and I can’t help feeling proud.”</p><p>“Ok fine, I’ll allow it this time. I love you” she rolled her eyes while walking over to kiss him before going to sit on one of the bar stools “what are you making?”</p><p>“Your favorite, since you finally feel well enough to eat something other than crackers and soup”</p><p>“Bacon!” Fallon gasped</p><p>“Yep, and a fresh salad made with homegrown veggies.” He smiled “Oh, and a vanilla milkshake with homemade whipped cream and a real cherry on top for dessert” </p><p>“What did I do to deserve a man like you” Fallon wondered aloud with the biggest smile on her face “I actually came to find you to talk about something I’ve been thinking about.” she said cautiously, not wanting to ruin moment but needing to get it off her chest.</p><p>“I’m all ears”</p><p>“Ok, well after this last...you know...I was thinking that I don’t really want to go through this again. We have tried everything from IVF to herbal stuff and nothing is working, it is really taking a toll on my body and my mental health and I don’t think I can take another miscarriage. I’m sorry if you hate me because I was the one who changed your mind about having kids and now I’m ripping the possibility from you but I really don’t think I can.” Fallon rambled in one breath trying to just spit everything out at once, finding hard, like always, to talk about her feelings</p><p>“Hey, hey” Liam cooed as he rounded the counter to approach her “we don’t need to try again if you don’t want to Fallon” he said as he took her face in his hands to make her look at him “you know your limits and if you want to stop, we will stop. Four miscarriages is a lot and I understand that you don’t want to put yourself through that again. I will love you no matter what, you know that right?”</p><p>“Yeah” Fallon whispered, her eyes dropping to her lap</p><p>“Look at me Fallon” Liam said in a soft but stern voice causing her to look into his eyes “you know that, right?” He asked again “nothing you could ever do or say would make me stop loving you let alone hate you, even if that means we never have kids, because right now, you are the only thing that matters to me, do you understand?”</p><p>Fallon just nodded and leaned forward to give him a lingering kiss while tears rolled down her cheeks. </p><p>When they broke the kiss Liam gently wiped her tears away “well, what do you say I finish making your food and we can take it out by the pool to eat. I know you want that bacon” he teased gently</p><p>Fallon nodded again and a little giggle escaped her lips “that sounds really nice”</p><p>—————</p><p>Once they were settled on the lounge chairs by the pool the thought that had been tugging at the back of Fallon’s brain popped back into her mind. After their conversation in the kitchen she finally thought she could bring it up to see what Liam thought. </p><p>“Have you ever thought about adoption?” She asked while biting into a piece of bacon</p><p>“Not really, but it something I would consider looking into. Have you?”</p><p>“Yeah. A lot actually. Ever since I was 16 and found out it might be hard for me to conceive. At the time, part of me thought I didn’t even want to try having a baby of my own and my gynecologist brought up adoption. I brushed it off at first and just tried to be ok with knowing I might never have kids. The more I thought about it though, the more I liked the idea, I even did some research.” Fallon answered</p><p>“Wow. It seems like you’ve really thought this through.” </p><p>“Uh huh, I kind of forgot about it when we started trying because I was hopeful that it would work but now that we have tried to conceive and it has failed four times, I’ve been thinking about it as it becomes more likely that adoption something we could actually do.”</p><p>“Well I’m open to the idea if you are, you just let me know when you are ready to start doing some research to see if it’s something we want to do. We can do this at your pace, I’ll just follow your lead.” He said, not wanting to push her into anything and allow her time to heal mentally and physically from the trauma she had just gone through at her own pace.</p><p>“Thank you” Fallon smiled “this bacon is really good by the way, it’s exactly what I needed right now.” She said as she leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder sighing happily “it feels so good to finally be getting some fresh air”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. It’s all becoming real so fast</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It had been a few weeks since Fallon and Liam had their conversation about adoption. Liam really wanted to talk about it but didn’t want to push her so he did some research on his own to learn more about what it was and what it required. He really only brushed the surface of the vast amount of information available but learned enough to have a good idea of what to expect. Now he just had to wait for Fallon to bring it up.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I think I’m ready to start looking into adoption. All of the cramping and bleeding is gone and I’m starting to really feel like myself again. I was going to wait a few months to start but I know it can be a very long process so I want to start soon.” Fallon said one night as they were laying in bed.</p><p>“Okay. How soon?” Liam asked</p><p>“Tomorrow. I’m still off work for a couple more weeks, we can start by doing a little more research and then maybe look up agencies in Atlanta and see if there are any that we like.”</p><p>“Sounds good, I did a little bit of research on my own and I’m really liking the idea now. Like you, I wasn’t sure at first but I read some other people’s stories and now I’m confident that this is the right choice for us.” Liam told her</p><p>“Really! Reading people’s stories is what sold me on the idea years ago too. They all seemed so happy. I’m glad we are on the same page about all this.”</p><p>“Me too, I’m excited! Get some sleep, we have a long adventure ahead of us.” Liam whispered as he leaned over to give Fallon a kiss</p><p>“I love you” Fallon whispered </p><p>“I love you too”</p><p>—————</p><p>After breakfast the next morning Fallon and Liam headed to their home office to start doing more research and looking into the agencies in Atlanta. With both of them on their own computers they were able to get a lot done. While they were doing their research they found a list of questions to ask the social workers when they called. They found eight agencies near them in Atlanta and decided to each call four to see what their policies were. </p><p>“So you do open and closed adoptions?” Fallon asked the woman on the other end of her phone “what is the difference between the two?” </p><p>Fallon was scribbling notes on the paper in front of her as fast as she could as she listened to the social worker.</p><p>“Ok great, thank you” she said before hanging up and writing down a few more notes</p><p>“What are your policies when it comes to meeting the birth families?” Liam questioned the woman he was talking to</p><p>Liam was scribbling down some notes on the notebook as front in front of him as well as he listened to the woman talk. “Thank you, we are still doing some research but we will get back to you if everything works out. Have a nice day” Liam said before hanging up</p><p>“Ok, that was all eight agencies.” Fallon commented “I got a lot of information from my four, what about you?”</p><p>“Same” Liam replied as he held up his notebook to show her his notes. “Looks like we are going to have to do some more research.”</p><p>“Well there is one that I talked to that I know I don’t want to move forward with so we can cross that one off the list” Fallon stated as she literally crossed off the name of the agency she didn’t like.</p><p>“Great, now we’re down to seven, that was easy” Liam joked</p><p>“Why don’t we number the remaining ones to keep track of them all while we compare” Fallon said as she started writing numbers next to the names of the agencies</p><p>“I liked number...two’s policy about the interview process with the birth families. None of the other ones I talked to had that and I like the idea of getting to know the families before we adopt their baby” mentioned Liam</p><p>“Yeah, I like that too. I liked number five’s process of finding birth families. They do a really thorough background check before accepting them into their program.” Fallon added</p><p>“Oh, that’s really good too. Those are definitely both strong contenders.” </p><p>For the next 4 hours they deliberated on the agencies policies, looking at their websites, making a few more calls, and going back and forth before they were left with two, numbers 2 and 5, the ones they originally liked.</p><p>“I have to say, I really like the idea of the background check. I know I liked the idea of talking with the birth families but you really can’t learn that much in one conversation, and with the background check we will know everything, good and bad.” Liam confessed</p><p>“I totally agree. So, does that mean we’ve made a decision?”Fallon asked excitedly </p><p>“I think we have, number five it is!” </p><p>“I’m going to call them back and let them know” Fallon blurted out</p><p>“Babe, Let’s go have lunch first and make sure they are who we want to work with. I’m pretty sure most people spend weeks deciding” Liam said as he looked at his watch</p><p>“Fine, we can go have lunch but I’m calling them right after, I’m not most people, I know what I want.”</p><p>“Okay” Liam chuckled, happy to finally see his wife so passionate over something again.</p><p>—————</p><p>After lunch Fallon called the agency back and told them that she and Liam would like to move forward with their company. They had her book an appointment to go visit with social workers at an orientation meeting to make sure that they had all the information they needed do fully decide that adoption was the right decision for them and that they wanted to pursue it with their agency.</p><p>“I made an appointment to go to an orientation meeting that all new families are required to attend.” Fallon told Liam when she got off the phone “Next Friday at 2:00”</p><p>“Ok, I’ll see if I can get off work early, it shouldn’t be an issue though. It’s all becoming real so fast” Liam commented</p><p>“You’re not regretting your decision, are you?” Fallon asked apprehensively, worried that she had maybe gone to fast.</p><p>“No no, not at all. I’m glad it’s becoming real so fast.”</p><p>“Oh ok, good” Fallon sighed in relief “I feel like Friday won’t come soon enough”</p><p>“I know, we’ll just have to keep ourselves busy for the next 8 days.” Liam smiled “I can’t wait”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Orientation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam attend an informational orientation at their chosen adoption agency.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was finally Friday. Fallon hadn’t slept much that night because she was so excited, but began to feel nervous as the appointment approached. At 4 in the morning she slowly slid out of bed and padded quietly down the hall to the office. She desperately wanted something to distract herself from her racing thoughts and the only thing she felt would be sufficient was work, even though she was technically still on leave for another week. She started working on a report but was so exhausted that she fell asleep over her keyboard after only 30 minutes.</p><p>When Liam woke up at 7:30 and reached over to cuddle Fallon like he normally did, he found her side of the bed empty. He sat up and looked around the room still a little groggy from sleep.</p><p>“Fallon?” He called<br/>
“Maybe she already got up” he thought to himself as he got up and went to go find his wife. </p><p>Liam first went down to the kitchen thinking that maybe she had made herself breakfast, as unlikely as that seemed. When he didn’t find her there his mind went straight to the office. He made his way back upstairs and gently pushed open the door that was left slightly ajar.</p><p>“Oh Fallon” he sighed as he took in the image of his wife slumped over her keyboard with a report displayed on the computer screen. He walked over to her and kissed her cheek softly while rubbing his hand on her upper back causing Fallon to stir.</p><p>“Fal” he whispered, trying to coax her out of her slumber. </p><p>“What...” she groaned</p><p>Suddenly she shot up and looked around before finding Liam’s sympathetic eyes.<br/>
“What happened?” she asked</p><p>“You tell me” Liam chuckled gesturing to the computer in front of her</p><p>“Oh, I was having trouble sleeping because I was nervous for today so I came in here to take my mind off it and I must have fallen asleep”</p><p>“Why are you nervous?”</p><p>“What if they don’t like me, or us, and they say we can’t have a baby, I’ve been wanting this for so long Liam and I’m scared that some person who doesn’t even know me will deem us unfit to care for a child. I was thinking that maybe we just shouldn’t go, that way they can’t tell us no, maybe it’s fine to not have a child, I expected that most of my life anyway.” Fallon rambled, clearly panicking and close to having a meltdown.</p><p>“Fallon, stop” Liam interrupted her as she took a big breath to keep going, kneeling in front of her and taking her hands in his. “If we don’t go they won’t be able to tell us yes either. I don’t think they will tell us no, in fact, I know they won’t tell us no because we are great people with lots of love to give. We have the opportunity of giving a child a great life here and they would have to be blind not to see how wonderful you are. Besides, today is just an introductory meeting, no one is deciding anything yet.”</p><p>“You can’t know that they’ll say yes but I guess you’re right, I didn’t see it that way, as always I was thinking negatively. Good thing I have you to think on the positive side” she smiled while pulling him up to kiss him.</p><p>“Shall we go get breakfast? What do you want to eat?” He asked</p><p>“Pancakes?” Fallon’s eyes lit up</p><p>“Of course” Liam replied before taking her hand and leading her down to the kitchen.</p><p>—————</p><p>“Do I look alright?” Asked Fallon as she adjusted her hair and dress for the hundredth time that hour</p><p>“You look great, now come on we’re going to be late.”</p><p>“Are you sure? This meeting is the first time the agency will see us and I want to make a good impression. My dress isn’t too short?” </p><p>“You look beautiful Fallon, don’t worry about it. They’re going to love you, I promise. Now we really need to go.”</p><p>“Ok fine, fine I’m coming.”</p><p>When they pulled into the parking lot in front of the adoption agency Fallon took a big breath while looking at the building in front of her.</p><p>Liam reached his hand over to take hers “You got this.” he whispered </p><p>Fallon gave him a tense smile before reaching for the door handle and stepping out the car, smoothing out her dress when she was standing. They walked around to the front of the car and joined hands before making their way to the entrance of the grey building. When they walked in the lady at the front desk looked up and smiled at them.</p><p>“You must be Mr. and Mrs. Ridley.” She said</p><p>“That’s us.” Liam replied</p><p>“Perfect, you guys are right on time, why don’t you follow me and we’ll get you settled in the orientation room with the other couples” She said as she walked around the desk to lead them down a hallway lined with doors before opening one and gesturing them to go inside. </p><p>When Fallon and Liam entered the room they saw five rows of chairs all facing a projector screen. There were four couples already sitting down so they went to take seats on the edge of the second row and waited for the presentation to start. </p><p>The presentation was all about what to expect, which included: paperwork, interviews, difficulties that might occur, the home study, and they even shared some stories about past adoptive parents and families at the end. Fallon took as many notes as she could, not wanting to miss a single bit of information.</p><p>“If you all feel like this is something you want to  continue with I will ask that you go to the front desk and make an appointment for an individual meeting with one of our social workers to discuss the next steps.”</p><p>Everyone in the room got up and three of the other couples joined Fallon and Liam at the front desk. When it was their turn they booked an appointment for the following week. The lady at the desk asked that in the meantime they think about what kind of adoption they would like to pursue based on the information they were given at the meeting. They both thanked her and headed out to the car.</p><p>“That was very informative” Liam said as they reached their car and got in.</p><p>“It was! I learned a lot. I feel a lot better about this process now that I know what we’re in for.”</p><p>“Me too.” Do you know what kind of adoption you want?”</p><p>“I want a newborn for sure. I don’t care what gender or race they are, I would even adopt a baby with mild medical needs, my main requirement is that it’s a newborn.” Fallon said decidedly</p><p>“What about fostering? They said that couples could foster to adopt”</p><p>“I don’t think I want to foster. I would be afraid that the baby would get reunified with its parents, and even though that’s great for the baby and it’s parents, it wouldn’t be as good for us.”</p><p>“That makes sense. I guess we know what to tell the social worker on Thursday.”</p><p>“Yep, no fostering, newborn, any gender, any race, maybe mild medical needs.” Fallon recited as she made a note in her phone.</p><p>“Now we just have to wait some more, this whole process is one big waiting game” Liam chuckled as he started the drive back home.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Nice to meet you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam meet with their social worker for the first time.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Thursday finally rolled around Fallon and Liam couldn’t be more excited. They were a little nervous but they knew what to expect at the meeting so that helped. They quickly got ready after lunch and made their way back to the agency.</p><p>When they got there they were greeted by the same lady at the front desk who led them back down the same hallway, but opened a different door for them to wait in. The room was much smaller with a desk facing the door and two chairs facing the desk. </p><p>“Wait here and a social worker will be with you shortly.” The lady said</p><p>“Thank you” Fallon and Liam smiled at the same time as they sat down in the seats facing the desk</p><p>A few minutes later a tall black haired woman entered the room with a stack of papers in her hands.</p><p>“Hello, my name is Carmen and I will be your social worker throughout this whole process. You must be Fallon and Liam, it’s nice to meet you both.” The social worker said as she shook their hands</p><p>“Good afternoon, it’s nice to meet you too.” Fallon stated with a smile, trying to come off warm and friendly.</p><p>“So, one of our main policies is to do a thorough background check on the birth families and we like to do the same with our adoptive ones just to make sure the child is in safe hands. We will start off with what we call an Adoption Planning Questionnaire. This is a series of questions that helps us measure which types of situations would be a good fit for your adoption goals. You will be asked about the amount of contact you are interested in sharing with the birth parents, the medical conditions you are willing to accept, and many more, sound good?”</p><p>“Sounds good” Liam said while Fallon just nodded</p><p>“Great, let’s get started.” She said as she shuffled some papers around “I trust that you’ve already discussed some of these topics with each other?”</p><p>“Yes, we have, we’re on the same page about everything” Fallon replied</p><p>“Good, that will make everything go much smoother” Carmen mentioned </p><p>They went through the questionnaire which took about 40 minutes and wrote down exactly what kind of adoption they wanted to go through with. They told the social worker everything they were looking for in a baby and discussed the types of communication they could have with the biological families after they adopted the baby. They decided that they did want to keep some form of contact with the biological families so that their child wouldn’t have to be confused about where they had come from and would talk to the family to see what they were comfortable with. They talked a little bit about their living situation and said that they had some help around the house to take care of the cleaning and yard work but they would be the ones taking care of the baby. They had decided that they didn’t want to have a nanny so they could be there for their child’s life as much as they could be.</p><p>When they were done Fallon was relived to finally have it all written down because it meant that they were that much closer to getting the baby she always dreamed about and it made her feel like it was more official.</p><p>“Alright! Now that we know what you are looking for we need to discuss your family histories.”</p><p>Fallon and Liam exchanged a look knowing this wasn’t going to go well.</p><p>“Before we start I want to warn you that both of our families are pretty dysfunctional, especially mine, but I cut myself off from them a few years ago and Fallon is working on healing her relationships with her family and is making great progress.” Liam brought up </p><p>“Ok, Thank you for letting me know ahead of time, that will allow me to make more informed decisions”</p><p>Another hour went by with Fallon trying to be as transparent about her family history as she could without scaring the social worker into denying them a child. She told her about how she was basically raised by their butler and hardly saw her parents when she was young, and how her mother abandoned them and then came back to try to fix her relationships with her children, about Steven’s mental break in Paris, and everything else she could think of. Carmen listened intently and made notes here and there but didn’t seem too outwardly surprised about anything Fallon was saying.</p><p>“Ok then, that went as well as it could have considering your past, but I am confident that it won’t be an issue as it sounds like you are taking the right steps to fix your relationships.” Carmen said and Liam swore he could visibly see the stress melting away from Fallon. </p><p>“Now the home study. Here is a list of everything you will need to prepare before my visit” she said while handing a piece of paper to Fallon who’s eyes widened at the long list “I will give you a few weeks to get everything done but we should set a date now so you have a timeframe for when to finish. How about...exactly 3 weeks from today at 1:00?” She asked as she looked at her calendar </p><p>“That should be fine” said Liam “we don’t have anything coming up besides work and we have pretty flexible jobs.” </p><p>“Great! I will see you then, I have your home address and your phone numbers and you have my email address so feel free to contact me with any questions” she told them as she got up and held the door open to lead them back out to the lobby</p><p>“We will, thank you” Fallon said as they made their way out the building</p><p>As soon as they were outside Fallon let out a breath and put her hand over her heart. “That went so much better than I thought it would” she breathed </p><p>“I told you they’d like you, would I ever lie to you?”</p><p>“No, you wouldn’t” Fallon giggled, relieved that the meeting was over “now we’ve got to complete everything for the home study. Do you see how long this list is!” Fallon exclaimed while holding the paper up for Liam to see</p><p>“I do, it’s a lot but we have three weeks to do it, I’m sure that’s plenty of time to get everything done” he said as they got in the car “and can I just say that you handled that meeting very well, the old Fallon definitely would have been a lot more cold and unwelcoming.”</p><p>“Thank you, I could feel old Fallon threatening to emerge but I really tried to suppress her, I’m glad it worked” Fallon confessed</p><p>“It did, and that’s one of the reasons I love you” </p><p>“I love you too” Fallon said</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Prepping for the home visit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It was a few days after their visit with Carmen and even though they had three weeks until the home visit Fallon was itching to get started. There was a lot to get done and she wanted to make sure she got everything finished on time. She decided to get all of the paperwork organized first starting with their birth certificates.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you all for reading! I hope you are enjoying it so far, I am finding it quite therapeutic writing this little story!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Liam, do you know where your birth certificate is? I have mine but I don’t know what happened to yours.”</p><p>“I needed it for work one day, it’s in the top drawer of my desk in our office.” Liam replied, sending Fallon rushing off to find it.</p><p>Next, she needed to gather their marriage certificate, social security cards, proof of citizenship, proof of income, proof of employment, medical records, and immunization records. She spent all day rummaging around the manor collecting all the documents and making copies of them so she had two of each just in case. She was in their office around 7:15 in the evening making copies of the last few documents she had found when Liam came up to get her for dinner. He had been called into work last minute so he hadn’t been able to help but Fallon was fine doing it on her own since she really wanted to get it done.</p><p>“Dinners ready” he said in a soft voice as he leaned against the doorframe. </p><p>“One second, I just need to wait for this last copy”</p><p>When the paper came out of the machine she added it to the pile of all the other documents and slid the stack into a big envelope and put it in a drawer to keep it safe and then joined Liam to walk to the kitchen.</p><p>“We each need to write an autobiographical statement that they are going to give to the birth families so they can choose a couple that they like.” She mentioned as they walked down the stairs “It should be pretty easy for you considering you’re a writer but I might need some help with mine to make sure it’s absolutely perfect.”</p><p>“Sounds good, how about we start working on them tomorrow and relax for the rest of the evening.”</p><p>Fallon nodded “What did you make for dinner? It smells really good”</p><p>“Lamb, asparagus, mashed potatoes and fresh bread rolls” </p><p>“Mmm” Fallon hummed, her mouth already starting to water. Liam could only chuckle in response.</p><p>—————</p><p>“What exactly is this autobiographical statement supposed to include?” Asked Liam as they cleaned up from breakfast</p><p>“I don’t really know. I think we are supposed to add some stuff about our family life and how we want to raise our child, our values and goals, and some stuff about our personalities. I looked up some examples but we can do some more in depth research about it. Oh, and I think we are also supposed to put pictures of us in there as well.”</p><p>“That shouldn’t be too difficult, it might take a while to get it perfect but we’ve got time. Do you want to go start now?”</p><p>“Yes, I want to get started as soon as we can” Fallon responded</p><p>After putting the last few dishes away Liam took Fallon’s hand and they headed upstairs to their office to start on their statements. They got on their own computers and started looking up more about what they needed to include and some examples for them to go off.</p><p>“It looks like it has to be kind of a joint statement on one piece of paper where we each have a paragraph about ourselves. The rest of the space, front and back, has the other information about parenting styles, goals for the child’s life, and other stuff like that. It also seems that people have 3 or 4 pictures of themselves on there as well.” Liam said as he looked through some examples their agency had posted.</p><p>“Oh! That’s way easier than I was thinking, I thought we’d have to each write a whole page or something, maybe this won’t take too long”<br/>
Fallon said happily “we should still try to get it done today though so we can take that off the to-do list.”</p><p>“Alright then, let’s start by each writing our little paragraphs and then we can work together on the other stuff. </p><p>About 40 minutes later they were both happy with their respective paragraphs. They had read through each others and made little changes here and there but were finally satisfied with how they sounded. Liam emailed his to Fallon so she could start putting the paper together. She inserted both paragraphs, one on each side of the paper, in a font that would allow them room to add the other information they needed and the pictures.</p><p>“I think we should put a picture of you next to yours and one of me next to mine that way they can see what we look like when they read about us.” Fallon suggested </p><p>“That’s a good idea. Should we choose all our pictures now so we know how to format it?”</p><p>Yeah, I think I know what picture of me I want to use, do you have one in mind that you like?” Fallon asked as she began searching through photos on her computer.</p><p>“I want one where I look welcoming and friendly, maybe from our trip to New York last summer?” </p><p>“I’ll see if I can find one. I was thinking of using one from one of my magazine covers but I think you’re right to not have one that looks too intimidating. Maybe one from that picnic you took me on would be better?”</p><p>“You were really happy that day and that probably comes across in the picture so yeah, I think that would be good.” Liam said</p><p>After finding both of the pictures they wanted, Fallon inserted them into the document and adjusted them so they were next to each of their paragraphs. They spent the next five hours writing the rest of the information, choosing pictures, and messing with the format making sure everything was perfect. Liam had even brought their lunch up to the office so they could keep working as they ate. When they were confident in how it looked they emailed it to Carmen to get her approval and to see if there was anything they needed to change.</p><p>“I think that was enough for today. What do you say we go on a walk and get some fresh air before dinner?” Liam asked</p><p>“I could use some fresh air, I’ve been cooped up in here for too long.” Fallon said as she stood up and stretched.</p><p>“Let’s go then” Liam chuckled </p><p>—————</p><p>Five days after they sent the autobiographical statement Carmen finally replied saying that they had everything they needed and that they didn’t need to make any changes to it which was a relief to Fallon. While they had waited for the response Fallon and Liam had gone over their checklist again to see what else needed to be done and ordered some things they would need so they would arrive on time. They wanted to get some other stuff done around the house too.</p><p>“Have you checked the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors yet Liam?”</p><p>Not yet, I was going to do that today”</p><p>“Ok good, while you do that I’m going to make sure that there are fire distinguishers and first-aid kits in all the places on the list. After you do the alarms can you make sure the guns are properly locked away?” Fallon asked</p><p>“Sure thing. I’ll also call an electrician and see if they can come next week to make sure the appliances are safe and that the heating and air conditioning are working well.”</p><p>“Oh, that reminds me. We need to get someone to install screens on some of the windows and to check all the other screens.” Said fallon as she made a note on the piece of paper “I’ll call when I’m done doing the other stuff”</p><p>A few hours later they had both finished what they were going to do and met back in the living room to see what else had to be done.</p><p>“The only thing we have left to do is to get a crib and some other nursery furniture and to hire someone to install a fence around the pool. There is some other baby proofing stuff on here but it says that since we are looking to adopt a newborn we don’t need to do it yet, we just need to have all the stuff which I already ordered so we can show Carmen.”</p><p>“Great! I’ll see if I can find someone to come install that fence this week. I like that it’s a requirement they have, though I would have done it anyway because kids around pools make me so nervous.” Liam shuddered</p><p>“I’m glad you would have because it didn’t even cross my mind as an issue until I saw it on the paper. It makes me feel better that you’re aware of stuff like that.”</p><p>Liam just smiled and leaned in to give his wife a kiss. “I’ll go call the pool people”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Home study</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam have their home visit</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fallon was tossing and turning trying to get to sleep until she eventually decided to just get up in the middle of the night to go over the checklist again to make sure they had done everything. </p><p>She went through all the paperwork they needed and made sure they were all correct and legal. She then went through the entire mansion checking alarms, windows, locks, and everything else she thought could be an issue. She made sure all the chemicals and medications were in cabinets up high and that fire extinguishers and first-aid kits were easily accessible throughout the building. Everything seemed to be in order so she went into what would eventually be the baby’s room and cleaned, yes cleaned, the empty room, mopping the floor and dusting the corners of the ceiling. Liam came in around 6am and found her on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor.</p><p>“Fallon, babe, what are you doing?”</p><p>“Everything needs to be perfect Liam! I went through the entire checklist twice hoping it would help get to sleep but I can’t seem to get my nerves to settle.”</p><p>“Honey” Liam whispered as he knelt beside her in the empty room and put his arm around her waist to help her stand up before pulling her into a tight hug hearing her start to sob as all the stress and anxiety bubbled over. “You need to get some rest Fal, you’re going to want to be the best version of yourself and you can’t do that if you haven’t slept. Come back to bed and I will cuddle with you while you sleep for awhile, I’m sure everything is just as it should be.” </p><p>He felt Fallon sigh in his arms as she tried to compose herself “okay” she whispered and allowed Liam to guide her back to bed where she fell asleep quickly wrapped in his arms.</p><p>When she finally awoke she turned to face Liam who was reading a book beside her.</p><p>“What time is it?” She said in a sleep heavy voice</p><p>“Almost 10. Are you hungry? I can go make you something.”</p><p>“I’m starving, let me just shower and get ready and then I’ll have breakfast.”</p><p>“What do you want to eat, I’ll go make it while you get ready” Liam asked</p><p>“A poached egg and French toast please”</p><p>“Coming right up!”</p><p>—————</p><p>Three hours later Fallon and Liam were in the foyer waiting anxiously for Carmen’s knock. They had laid out all the paperwork on the dining room table and were prepared to answer any question thrown their way. They both dressed nicely and made sure their outfits had no wrinkles or creases. </p><p>Suddenly they heard the commanding knock coming from the other side of the door. Fallon jumped on account of the anxiety putting her on edge. Liam opened the door calmly and welcomed the woman inside.</p><p>“Good afternoon Carmen” Fallon said as she shook her hand firmly.</p><p>“Good afternoon, you have a beautiful home. Let’s get this visit started shall we. Do you have all the paperwork listed on the sheet I gave you?” Carmen asked</p><p>“Yes we do, it’s all laid out on the dining room table if you’d like to follow me through here” Liam responded as he gestured in the direction of the room.</p><p>Carmen spent about 30 minutes looking over all the paperwork carefully while Fallon and Liam sat silently in their chairs waiting for her to finish.</p><p>“All your papers seem to be in order which is great news, this is usually where we find problems but I don’t see any here so we are good to move on to the interview portion.”</p><p>Fallon allowed herself to feel a moment of relief before her stress levels peaked again as she worried about the interview.</p><p>“Fallon, we will start with you” Carmen decided “Some of these questions you have been asked before but we are looking for more in-depth answers.”</p><p>The whole interview process lasted about an hour as they were asked questions about their parenting style, adoption readiness, goals for themselves and for the baby, about what kind of baby they were looking for, and their overall personalities. </p><p>It was hard to say exactly how they were going to parent considering they both had not so great parents and had never been parents themselves but what they did tell her is that they were going to make time to be a family and they would try not to have too many staff members so they could be as involved in their child’s life as they possibly could.</p><p>“Well that went as well as it could have!” Carmen exclaimed “I have to say that we have usually found some sort of bump in the road at this point in the process but you guys seem very on top of things, I’m impressed.”</p><p>“Really? That is so good to hear, I like to be prepared for everything so that’s probably why.” </p><p>“I think you two will make wonderful parents. Back on topic though, we still have to do the final step of the home visit and that is the home itself. Are you ready to show me around? We will go room by room making sure each one is up to our standards and then we will go outside to check the backyard as well.”</p><p>They led Carmen through every room of the house so she could check each one. She was mostly quiet as they went, checking off things on her clipboard, only speaking when she needed to ask them to show her something or when she wanted to move on. She had them show her the room for the nursery to make sure it was safe and told them to tell her when their crib arrived. They went around the perimeter of their property to make sure their fencing was suitable and that it was closed off so the child couldn’t escape somehow. They checked the pool and all the balconies and they even went to the front yard look at a few things. When they were done they went back inside to discuss the results.</p><p>“There were a few things I noticed that need to be addressed but they aren’t major, nothing to jeopardize your progress.”</p><p>“Okay...” Fallon said</p><p>“The fence in the back left corner has a loose board that needs to be secured” she said and Fallon nodded “It would also be wise to put another fire extinguisher in the upstairs bathroom to the right of the main staircase. And one of the windows in the guest bedroom down the hall from your room has a lock that doesn’t work properly. Other than that, everything looks great.”</p><p>“Oh that’s awesome!” Fallon breathed out a laugh of relief “I’ve worked so hard these past three weeks trying to get everything perfect”</p><p>“Well you’ve done a great job. Now all we have to do is get your info to some birth families! It is rare that we hear anything right away. It could take up to a year, sometimes even longer, but you just need to be patient and know that your time will come. We will start sending out and posting your autobiographical statement to our website and hopefully you will catch somebody’s eye. You probably won’t hear from me until we have an inquiry about you so don’t let the lack of communication scare you.”</p><p>“Okay, thank you so much for everything and we hope to hear from you soon!” Liam said as they stood up from the table and made their way to the front door.</p><p>“Have a good evening” Fallon smiled as she shook Carmen’s hand before she left</p><p>“You too”</p><p>Liam closed the door and immediately swept Fallon into his arms twirling her around causing her to laugh out loud. They were so relieved that everything went so well. Liam placed Fallon back down on her feet and pulled her in for a long, deep kiss.</p><p>“I love you so much” he whispered is he looked into her blue eyes</p><p>“I love you too” Fallon whispered back before hugging him again as tightly as she possibly could, never wanting to let go.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry the interviews and other stuff with the social worker are kind of vague, I’m not totally sure how those meetings go.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Decorating the nursery</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam start putting together the nursery</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Fal, the crib and changing table are here!” Liam yelled as soon as he closed the door on the delivery person</p><p>“Can you bring them up to the nursery?” Fallon asked as she stepped out onto the second story platform at the top of the stairs.</p><p>“Yeah, but it would be easier if I had some help”</p><p>“I’m sure one of our staff members can help you, how about Alex, he’s got to be around here somewhere”</p><p>“Fallon...” Liam complained</p><p>“Fine, but if I break a nail you’re paying for my manicure”</p><p>“Deal.”</p><p>Fallon walked down the stairs and picked up the other side of the box Liam was holding and groaned</p><p>“It’s not that heavy. C’mon, the faster we get moving the faster you can put it down”</p><p>They slowly shuffled awkwardly up the stairs and down the hall with the big object, finally making it into the nursery where they leant it against a wall. Then they went back downstairs and got the other, much heavier box, only making it halfway up the stairs before having to put it down.</p><p>“Maybe we will need Alex’s help after all” Liam huffed</p><p>“Alex!” Fallon yelled “Alex, we need your help!”</p><p>At the sound of his name the muscular young man walked swiftly into the foyer and up the steps “how can I help” he said</p><p>“Will you lift this side of the box, it’s too heavy for just the two of us. We’re taking it to the nursery” Liam instructed </p><p>“Sure thing” Alex said as they lifted the box together.</p><p>They managed to finally make it to the nursery after having to stop a couple times to readjust. They were all panting by the time they got there, dropping the package and standing in silence while they all caught their breath.</p><p>“Thank you Alex” Fallon said once she could breath comfortably again.</p><p>“No problem, let me know if you need anything else”</p><p>Fallon just nodded and then turned to Liam.<br/>
“Can we set these up today? I need to email a picture of the fully assembled crib to Carmen, it’s one of their policies.”</p><p>“Yeah. Can we go get some water first though?” Liam coughed, still trying to regain a normal breathing pattern.</p><p>“Stay here, I’ll go get us some, you look like you could use a longer break.” She teased as she left the room</p><p>A few minutes later Fallon returned with two large glasses of water and a knife to open the boxes with. Liam took a glass from her and took a long drink before setting it on the ground and taking the knife. </p><p>“Do you know where you’re going to put the crib?” Liam asked as he cut open the boxes</p><p>“I was thinking against this wall.” Fallon pointed “then the rocking chair can go next to it and have the crib on one side and the window on the other.”</p><p>“That’s smart, I like that. How about the changing table?”</p><p>“Either across from the crib, next to the bathroom door or on the same wall as the main door”</p><p>“I think having it next to the bathroom door makes more sense, that way bath time will be more efficient” Liam reasoned </p><p>“That’s true, we’ll put it there then. Also, when we choose a name I want to put it above the crib, I think that would be really cute. I want to wait do decorate fully until we actually have the baby though, that way I can make it more personalized to them and not have it be just a general nursery for any baby.”</p><p>“That makes sense. We can just get all the furniture set up and then when we get our baby we can decorate, they’ll probably spend the first few months in our room anyway.” </p><p>“Oh, that reminds me, I need to get a bassinet for our room.” Fallon said as she made a note in her phone “I’ll ask Monica if she wants to go baby shopping with me this weekend, she’s been asking if we can go.”</p><p>“That’ll be fun!” Liam exclaimed</p><p>“She also asked if she can throw us a baby shower type party when we bring home the baby. I told her I don’t know yet but I think that would be a good way for everyone to meet our newest family member”</p><p>“I think that’s a great idea, you should tell her family and close friends only though, we don’t want too many people exposing the baby to germs.” Liam suggested</p><p>“I’ll talk to her about it when we go shopping”</p><p>—————</p><p>An hour later Fallon and Liam were having no luck putting the crib and changing table together. They managed to get some pieces to look like the instructions but just couldn’t figure the rest out.</p><p>“Geez, why do they have to make this so difficult” Fallon complained “like, where they hell does this piece go? I don’t see it in the instructions!”</p><p>“Maybe we should hire someone from the company to come finish it” Liam sighed</p><p>“Yeah, I’ll call them right now” Fallon said as she stood up and pulled out her phone</p><p>“Their number should be on the website”</p><p>“Got it, ok it’s ringing...”</p><p>Fallon talked to the furniture company and arranged for someone to come the following day to set up the crib and table.</p><p>“They’re sending someone tomorrow.” She told Liam when she hung up</p><p>“Good, we’re lucky they have people to do that”</p><p>“No kidding” Fallon laughed</p><p>—————</p><p>The next day a man showed up and put together their furniture. When he left Fallon put the pieces where she wanted them in the room and then took a picture to email to Carmen. Liam walked in right as she snapped the picture.</p><p>“Looks good!” He exclaimed </p><p>“Doesn’t it! The rocking chair I want will go perfectly between the crib and the window.”</p><p>“I can’t wait until we have a new little munchkin here to enjoy it with us” </p><p>“Me too” Fallon whispered</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Shopping trip</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Monica go baby shopping</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Bye, I’m going shopping with Monica, I’ll probably be back in a few hours” Fallon said as she entered the office where Liam was working on a Saturday.</p><p>“Bye, have fun!” Liam responded as she leaned down to kiss him </p><p>Fallon then made her way downstairs and out the front door where Monica was waiting in her car.</p><p>“Hey Fal. Look at you, all mommy to be, it’s a good look on you.”</p><p>“Thank you, I like to think so too, but you should know better than anyone, every look is a good look on me.” Fallon smirked</p><p>“You’re right, my bad” Monica laughed as she drove off “where to first?”</p><p>“Well, I was looking into some baby furniture stores and I liked the styles that pottery barn and Nordstrom have so let’s do pottery barn first. They also have a stroller at Bergdorf that I like but I’ll wait until we have confirmation that we’re getting a baby before I go buy it.”</p><p>“I never thought I’d see the day that Fallon Carrington would be shopping at pottery barn” Monica teased</p><p>“Shut up, I like the bassinet they have and that’s the only place I can see it in person before I buy it.”</p><p>“I guess that makes sense”</p><p>When they got to pottery barn they went inside and found the bassinet almost immediately. It was in the nursery section so it wasn’t hard to miss. </p><p>“I really like this one, it’s called a snoo, I just wanted to see it in person before I got it.” Fallon said</p><p>“I think it looks great, although, I don’t really know much about bassinets. Is there anything else you need from here?”</p><p>“Not that I have on my list but we should look around and see if there’s anything”</p><p>“What about sheets and blankets?” Monica said as she looked at some crib sheets</p><p>“I want to wait until we know if it’s a boy or a girl before I buy those. I could probably get a crib mattress while we’re here though, I don’t really like the one that came with the crib.” </p><p>Fallon and Monica spent the next 40 minutes browsing the store picking out a few bits for the baby. They then went and got an employee to get the bassinet and mattress shipped to the manor after they paid. </p><p>“Nordstrom next?” Monica asked</p><p>“Yep, then we can go get lunch” </p><p>“Good idea, I’m starting to get hungry”</p><p>At Nordstrom they again went strait to the baby section. Fallon wanted to get a car seat, a diaper bag, and some bottles.</p><p>“Do you mind if I go look around a bit while you decide which car seat to get?” Questioned Monica </p><p>“That’s fine, I’ll probably be a while.”</p><p>“See you in a little bit”</p><p>“Bye” Fallon said before going back to looking at the car seats in front of her</p><p>About 30 minutes later Fallon finally decided on a car seat that the baby could use until they were about 4 years old, if it lasted that long. She then went to the feeding section where she was quickly overwhelmed by the choices of bottle brands and nipple shapes all claiming they were the best.</p><p>She stood there looking at them for a good 15 minutes before giving up and deciding to do more research at home with Liam. Monica then came around into the aisle as she went to go look at the diaper bags. </p><p>“There you are!” Monica said “I’ve been looking for you for ages. I got you something”</p><p>“Oh, Monica those are so cute!” Fallon gasped as she held up a little white knit sweater with a matching hat that had bear ears on it and a white long-sleeved onesie that said “mommy’s favorite human” with a delicate circle of leaves around it.</p><p>“I couldn’t not get anything for the baby. I am going to be the favorite auntie after all”</p><p>“Yes you are, I’ll make sure of it. Thank you Mon. I was just going to look at diaper bags, I’ll definitely need your opinion on which one looks best” </p><p>They walked over to to the bags and Fallon ended up choosing a simple black one that would go with almost every outfit. After they paid they went to Aria for lunch where they spent the afternoon catching up. Monica told Fallon about how her business was going and Fallon told her about what had happened with their adoption journey so far and some stuff about work. When they were done they paid Monica drove Fallon home.</p><p>“We need to do this more often” Fallon said as they pulled up the driveway “I feel like I don’t see you nearly enough”</p><p>“Definitely, let me know when you’re available and we can see if we can set something up, maybe a nice brunch next time?”</p><p>“Sounds good! See you soon” Fallon exclaimed when she stepped out the car.</p><p>She went to the trunk and gathered her things before waving as Monica drove off. She walked inside and went to put the stuff she had bought in the nursery and then went to find Liam. </p><p>“You’re still working?” She said when she found him still in the office</p><p>“Yeah, I’ve got a presentation on Monday that I need to prepare for.” He stated bluntly “how was shopping?”</p><p>“It was good, I got pretty much everything I wanted to get, except bottles, I need to do more research on what brand to get” she said as she walked over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders to massage them</p><p>Liam hummed in appreciation as his muscles started to relax. “Thanks babe” he sighed</p><p>“Why don’t you take a break and come look at what I bought” Fallon suggested</p><p>“You know what, I think I just might” Liam said as he got up from his chair “I need to stretch my legs anyway.”</p><p>They spent the next 20 minutes looking at all the stuff Fallon had bought before Liam had to go back to work, leaving Fallon to put everything away by herself. She didn’t really mind though, she liked spending time in the nursery alone thinking of her future in that very room.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry for these last two filler chapters, I’m trying to convey some time passing. Thanks for the kudos!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Finding a birth family</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon gets anxious waiting to hear back from the agency so she does some research on her own.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I found her, I found her! Liam, I found her!” Fallon yelled as she ran down the hall to find Liam before bursting into their en-suite where he was taking a shower after work.</p><p>“What do you mean? Found who?” Liam asked with a very confused look on his face</p><p>“A birth mother!” Fallon exclaimed as she tried to catch her breath “I was looking on an independent adoption site and she seems so nice, I just have a feeling that she’s the one. I was going to contact her and give her our autobiographical statement to see if she would be willing to work with our agency if she likes us.”</p><p>“Are we allowed to do that?” </p><p>“I don’t know but it would be worth a shot. I just got so fed up of waiting around to hear something since it’s been almost three months and I couldn’t help myself”</p><p>“Can I see her bio before you do anything else?” Liam asked skeptically as he got out of the shower and grabbed a towel</p><p>“Of course, that’s why I came to find you. I have it up on my computer, I’ll wait for you to get dressed and we can go look together”</p><p>“Just give me a sec” Liam said as he went into the closet to get dressed</p><p>Five minutes later Liam walked back out dressed in his lounge wear and he walked with Fallon to the home office.</p><p>“Her name is Hannah, she’s 21 years old and her boyfriends name is James who is 23. She’s two months pregnant and it says here that they already have a two year old son and that they can’t provide for another child. They live in New Hampshire so we’d have to fly there if they choose us.” Fallon explained as she read off the computer</p><p>“They seem really nice. It says that she works at a hair salon and he is a repair man. They don’t have any hereditary medical issues except for needing glasses which is fine.” Liam read aloud, mostly to himself</p><p>“She has the most gorgeous curly blond hair I’ve ever seen, look” Fallon mentioned as she scrolled down to show Liam their pictures. </p><p>“I think you should go for it! They seem like good people who just want the best for their baby.” Liam concluded</p><p>“Really! I’ll call her in the morning since it’s already 9 and give her our info. It says we can email or call but I’m going to call because that way we can have a more personal interaction which I think is important.”</p><p>                         —————</p><p>The next morning Fallon couldn’t wait to call Hannah and James. She decided to wait until 10 to call just in case they were late sleepers since it was a Saturday. When she called, Hannah picked up almost right away. Fallon explained why she was calling and their situation, she asked if she could email her their statement for consideration, and asked more about her and her boyfriend and son. She was fairly quiet on the phone and seemed to have a laid back, pleasant personality which Fallon really liked, although you really can’t learn much about a person over the phone.</p><p>As soon as Fallon got off the phone she emailed Hannah their statement and hoped that she would like them. She then rushed downstairs to find Liam and tell him how the call went. </p><p>“I just got off the phone with Hannah” she panted</p><p>“Oh yeah? how was it, how did she seem?” Liam asked eagerly</p><p>“She was quiet and almost seemed awkward but I got a feeling that she was a really nice, genuine person. I have a good feeling about her. I sent over our statement and she said she’d look over it and get back to us if she wants to work with us and our agency.”</p><p>“That sounds great! Hopefully it won’t be too long before she calls back.”</p><p>                      —————</p><p>Two days later Fallon and Liam were just sitting down to dinner when Fallon’s phone rang.</p><p>“It’s Hannah!” She exclaimed </p><p>“Answer it!”</p><p>“I can’t, you answer” Fallon said and she held out her phone to Liam who took it and answered</p><p>Fallon looked at Liam intently while he talked and tried to listen to the conversation as best she could to see if she could decipher if it was good or bad. Liam hung up the phone with a blank look on his face and said nothing.</p><p>“Well?!” Said Fallon, the panic evident in her eyes</p><p>“She said they liked our statement and they want to work with us and our agency!” Liam yelled finally, smiling and throwing his arms in the air</p><p>“She did! Yay, that’s such good news! Now we just have to hope that it’s ok with our agency.” she realized </p><p>“I’m sure it will be fine, we can call them tomorrow to find out.” Liam reasoned</p><p>                       —————</p><p>The next morning Fallon called Carmen as soon as the agency opened at 8:00.</p><p>“Hello?” Carmen said as she answered the phone</p><p>“Good morning! I wanted to run something by you to see what your policy is on a certain situation.” Fallon answered </p><p>“Go ahead”</p><p>“So, I may have gotten a little antsy waiting for a call from you so I did some of my own research to find a birth family. I found a young couple named Hannah and James who live up in New Hampshire and I sent them our autobiographical statement to see if they’d be interested in working with the agency and she called back last night and said they would. Is that something that can happen?”</p><p>“Normally no, we wouldn’t do that sort of thing, but since we haven’t found anything on our end for you and you’ve already talked with her and she seemed to like your statement we will go ahead with it. Will you email me all their information so I can follow the necessary protocols? They will need to fit with our standards before we accept them”</p><p>“Of course, thank you so much for agreeing to this, I’ll sent it over right now.” Fallon smiled and did a little dance, not able to contain her excitement </p><p>“No problem, I’ll be in touch.” Carmen concluded before she hung up the phone</p><p>Fallon then called Liam at work to tell him the good news. He was just as excited but they agreed that that they shouldn’t get their hopes up too high just in case something fell through. When she got off the phone she emailed Carmen the information she needed and hoped for the best.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>They’re getting close to finally having their dream baby! Hopefully it all works out</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Hannah and James</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam find out if Hannah and James are up to their agency’s standards.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you are all enjoying this story and thank you again for following along!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After about a week of anxiously waiting Fallon and Liam finally got the call from Carmen. She told them everything went well with Hannah and James and they were on track to move forward with the adoption process. She also informed them that Hannah had decided to choose them because Fallon had called her. All the other families that had contacted her had emailed and even though she hated talking on the phone, it showed her how much Fallon and Liam wanted to start a family. </p><p>They got to talk with Hannah more in the following weeks to learn more about her and her family. Their two year old son’s name was Johnathan and he was a really loving and silly little boy. They learned that Hannah’s father was adopted which is what led her to consider adoption for her baby even though her father didn’t want her baby to be. </p><p>“Can I ask why your father is so against you putting your baby up for adoption?” Fallon asked one day while she was on FaceTime with Hannah </p><p>“He has never really explained why, but I think it has something to do with him growing up never knowing fully who he was or where he came from. My mom explained that he always had a hard time with that.” Hannah explained </p><p>“Oh...I never thought about that” Fallon murmured </p><p>“I don’t mean to scare you, and just because he felt that way doesn’t mean this baby will.”</p><p>“I guess so. I know you wanted to have a closed adoption but is there any chance you would consider having at least a little bit of communication with her so she will never have to feel that way?” </p><p>“I’ll think about it” Hannah assured her</p><p>“Thank you, no pressure though, I get that it’s a difficult decision to make and I don’t want to push you into anything you feel uncomfortable with”</p><p>“I’ll tell you when I make a decision” Hannah responded softly </p><p>—————</p><p>As more weeks went by they filled out more paperwork and followed a few more necessary steps until basically all that was left was for the baby to be born and have the adoption finalized. Hannah also informed them that she had decided to keep a small amount of communication with them through letters and maybe texting. She didn’t have super reliable means of technological communication so she figured mailing letters would be fine and would feel more personal anyway.</p><p>She called them right after her 18 week anatomy scan to tell them everything was looking good with the baby and that she was having a little girl! Fallon couldn’t be more excited to have a daughter and as soon as she found out she called Liam at work to tell him the news.</p><p>“Hi babe, what’s up” Liam greeted when he picked up the phone</p><p>“Hannah’s having a girl! We’re going to have a daughter Liam!” Fallon practically shouted</p><p>“No way, really?! Did she just call you?”</p><p>“Yeah, oh and the anatomy scan went well too, the baby looks perfectly healthy other than measuring a little small.” Fallon explained</p><p>“That’s so great Fal! Now we can start thinking of names” </p><p>“Oh my god, names. I forgot we had to think of a name, I was so caught up in just getting the baby that it slipped my mind” Fallon gasped</p><p>Liam could only chuckle at his wife’s response <br/>“We can start looking through names tonight after we both get home from work, if you want.”</p><p>“Yeah, that sounds fun”</p><p>The rest of the afternoon Fallon could hardly concentrate on her work, all she could think about was taking her daughter shopping, talking about boys, and doing all the things that she never got to do with Alexis.</p><p>—————</p><p>“What about Ruby?” Liam suggested</p><p>“Ruby Ridley? No way, to many R’s</p><p>Fallon and Liam were laying in bed and they were both going through lists of girl names on their phones and saying out loud the ones they liked</p><p>“How about Sophia?” Fallon commented</p><p>“I like Sophia” Liam nodded</p><p>“I’ll add that to the list then” Fallon said as she wrote down the name on a piece of paper with all the other names they had liked.</p><p>So far on the list they had the names: Amelia, Scarlett, Paisley, and now Sophia. They looked through names for about an hour and added a few more names before deciding they had enough names and that it was time to narrow down the ones they had. </p><p>“I like Norah, Sophia, and Scarlett. I really like Paisley too, but I don’t like it paired with Ridley” Fallon said</p><p>“I’m not sure about Scarlett, it just doesn’t seem right to me, but I do like Norah and Sophia. I also like the name Eloise.”</p><p>“I don’t really like Eloise” Fallon scrunched her nose</p><p>“Ok, so I guess we have to choose between Norah and Sophia since they’re the ones we agree on. Why don’t we sleep on it and see how we feel about them in the morning?”</p><p>“Good idea, goodnight” </p><p>“Goodnight, love you”</p><p>—————</p><p>In the morning they still couldn’t decide which name they liked better so they decided to look for some more names to see if they found one that stood out more. After a few days of looking Fallon could help but keep going back to the name Sophia. She really liked how it sounded and thought it went well with Ridley.</p><p>“I can’t get the name Sophia out of my head, what are your thoughts on it now we’ve had a few day to think?”</p><p>“I really like it too, none of the other names have stood out to me.”</p><p>“So Sophia as a first name, what about a middle name?” Fallon asked</p><p>“We could do Morrell like yours and Alexis’s” Liam suggested</p><p>“Definitely not, I don’t want my baby to have any name relating to my family, I want her to have her own name. I was thinking we could let  Hannah choose the middle name, that way she would always be a part of her daughter’s life even if they aren’t physically with each other”</p><p>“That actually sounds like a really sweet thing to do, did you think of that by yourself?”</p><p>“Yeah, Shocking isn’t it” Fallon nodded</p><p>“That’s not what I meant and you know that” </p><p>“I know, I couldn’t help it” Fallon laughed</p><p>“HaHa, you’re so funny” Liam said ironically while rolling his eyes “come here” Fallon stepped forward and was immediately wrapped in his arms “I love you though”</p><p>“I love you too” Fallon said back as she stood on her toes to kiss him</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Now all that’s missing is Sophia</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam call their friends and family to tell them Hannah is having a girl and they decide to decorate the nursery.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hi daddy” Fallon said when her father picked up the phone</p><p>“Hey Fal, what’s up?”</p><p>“I just wanted to let you know that we found out if Hannah is having a boy or a girl. We actually found out a little while ago but wanted to decide on a name before we told everyone”</p><p>“And?” Blake prompted</p><p>“She’s having a girl!”</p><p>“I’m going to have a granddaughter!” Blake exclaimed “what’s her name?”</p><p>“We’ve decided to call her Sophia. She doesn’t have a middle name yet because we want to let birth mom pick so we won’t know her full name until she’s born”</p><p>“That’s a beautiful name. I’ve got to go tell Crystal, she’s going to be so excited!” </p><p>“Wait, no. Don’t tell anyone. Liam and I want to be the ones to share the news. Promise you won’t say anything?” Fallon pleaded</p><p>“I promise, you better tell them soon though, I can only keep a secret this big for so long.”</p><p>“We’re going to try to tell everyone today if we can. I’ll call you back when we’re done”</p><p>“Ok, bye sweetheart”</p><p>“Bye dad”</p><p>After calling Blake, Fallon called Monica to share the good news. She also made sure to mention that Monica could throw the baby a welcome home party since she realized after she got home from their shopping trip that she had completely forgotten to bring it up with her. </p><p>“Just don’t invite too many people, only close friends and family.” Fallon told her</p><p>“Of course! Now that I know the name and gender I can start planning accordingly.” Monica said excitedly “I’ll probably get Sam’s help too, he’s good with party planning”</p><p>“I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with.”</p><p>“I’m going to call Sam when we’re done so we can start right away”</p><p>“Okay” Fallon laughed “talk to you later”</p><p>“Bye fal”</p><p>Fallon and Liam then spent the rest of the day calling Fallon’s family and friends since Liam was no longer speaking with his family. </p><p>—————</p><p>“Do you think it’s safe to start decorating the nursery? I don’t want to get it all ready and get my hopes up just to have it all taken away again, but it would also be nice to have it done.” Fallon asked Liam that night while they were in bed</p><p>“I think there will be unknowns until we actually go to court and have all the paperwork signed. But that could be months after she’s born. I think you should decorate, it’ll pass the time until she’s born and if it falls through we’ll just have to hope the next family is also having a girl”</p><p>“Don’t say it like that” Fallon said annoyed</p><p>“What?” Liam asked</p><p>“You make it sound like it’s no big deal to just find another family if this one doesn’t work out but it’s a human being we’re talking about Liam, a baby, our baby! It’s not like we’re just online shopping or something!”</p><p>“I’m sorry, it’s a huge deal, and I know that, I’m just trying to not get my hopes up, I know this process can be very emotionally exhausting”</p><p>“I guess we’re just handling this in different ways. You’re being rational and I’m throwing myself head first into planning and preparing” Fallon sighed “in classic Fallon and Liam fashion”</p><p>“I still do think you should decorate the nursery, things are going good so far so it might be good to have something tangible while we wait for the baby. I’ll help you, we can work on it on the weekends when we’re both off work.”</p><p>“Ok” Fallon nodded “I’ll start thinking about what colors and decor I want so we can buy the stuff”</p><p>“Sounds good” Liam smiled</p><p>—————</p><p>“What do you think of this pale grayish pink color for the walls?” Fallon asked while walking into the living room with her laptop in her arms</p><p>“I like it, it’s much better than that other shade of pink you showed me earlier” Liam replied as he looked at the color on the screen “you should get a sample can so you can see how you like it in person”</p><p>“You can do that?”</p><p>“Yeah” Liam chuckled “it’s a tiny tub of paint that you can use to paint a portion of the wall so you don’t buy the whole amount just to decide you don’t like it” he explained</p><p>“That’s such a good idea. I’ll do that before I hire painters to come do the whole room” Fallon said “I’m thinking of going with a pink, gold, and white theme” </p><p>“Sounds cute to me, but this is your domain so just tell me what you need or want and I’ll do it”</p><p>“Thanks babe” Fallon smiled</p><p>When the room was done, which took a few weeks, it was exactly as Fallon imagined it would be. There was white paneling around the bottom part of the walls and the top parts were painted a pale pinkish-grey color. The furniture was all white and the knobs on the dresser were gold. Fallon had chosen a large fluffy white rug and found some decorative pillows to go on the rocking chair that matched perfectly. She also had Liam hang a gold chandelier that hung in the middle of the room. </p><p>Like Fallon had said she wanted to do, they got letters spelling out “Sophia” to hang over the crib but decided to wait until the adoption was finalized before they put them up. </p><p>They worked until all there was left to do was to put the sheets on the crib mattress. Fallon had decided to get mostly white sheets but found a few that were white with little gold accents. The one she put in the crib was white with dainty gold flowers. She also put a little white bunny in the corner of the bed that would hopefully become Sophia’s comfort toy </p><p>“It’s so pretty in here, you did a great job” Liam said as Fallon was placing the bunny in the crib</p><p>“Thank you, I love how it turned out” Fallon sighed happily as she looked around “Now all that’s missing is Sophia”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Baby moon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam go on a baby moon before going up to New Hampshire</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy holidays everyone!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Fallon we have to go, we’re going to be late!” Liam yelled from the bottom of the stairs</p><p>“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Fallon yelled back as she rushed out of their bedroom and down the stairs holding her purse.</p><p>They were on their way to New York, Hannah was now 2 weeks away from her due date and Fallon and Liam had decided to make the most of their trip by staying in New York for a few days before heading up to New Hampshire. Their jet was waiting for them and even though they didn’t really have a time to depart, Liam didn’t want to keep the pilot waiting for too long.</p><p>“The car is outside and the jet is already waiting.” Liam told Fallon as she reached the bottom of the stairs</p><p>“Ok ok, I get it, I take too long to get ready, I’m here now aren’t I? Are you sure we have everything? Car seat, diaper bad, carrier...” </p><p>“Everything is in the car, I checked myself. Now let’s go get this baby!” Liam cheered and placed a quick peck on her lips before they walked out to the car.</p><p>Once they were on the jet Fallon was marveling at how fast the process had gone. Yeah, it had taken over a year to get to the point they were at and it felt like a lifetime ago that they first called the agency, but when she thought about how close they were to getting Sophia she couldn’t help but feel like it flew by.</p><p>“I can’t believe we are finally going to meet Sophia” Fallon thought aloud</p><p>“I was just thinking the same thing. We’ve been wanting this for so long and now it’s finally happening. It’s so crazy” </p><p>“I can’t imagine going through this journey with anyone else, and I know that’s so cheesy to say but I really mean it” Fallon smiled </p><p>“Me too” Liam whispered</p><p>—————</p><p>In New York they decided to treat the trip as a sort of baby moon. They spent lazy mornings in bed, took long walks in Central Park, ate at fancy restaurants, and of course, had plenty of sex. They also did a lot of shopping and Fallon couldn’t help but buy some baby clothes. She wanted to buy practically the whole baby girl section but Liam warned her that something could still go wrong so she limited herself to ten outfits, all designer, obviously.</p><p>They flew to New Hampshire after New York to explore a little bit since neither of them had been there before and knew nothing about the state. They had to end up in Manchester because that is where Hannah and John lived so they decided on some winter activities they could do including going to the capital city concord, staying in a castle with horseback riding, visiting some ice castles, and going wine tasting. </p><p>Most of the things to do in New Hampshire had to do with outdoors and hiking which Fallon was not going to do especially since it snowed and rained a lot, so they tried to stick to the stuff they were used to, which was mostly indoors except for the horseback riding. </p><p>They spent Christmas at the castle and had a perfect last Christmas together as a family of two. Their suite had a big stone fireplace in the living room which gave the room a nice cozy warmth, away from the cold and snow outside. They exchanged gifts in the morning and had room service deliver breakfast which they ate in bed. When they finally got up they dressed in their warmest clothes and went on a walk in the snowy landscape around them.</p><p>“This was such a nice getaway before we have a baby.” Fallon said as they walked through the fresh powdery snow</p><p>“I know, I think all couples should have a baby moon. Did you come up with that or is it actually a thing people do?”</p><p>“It’s actually a thing people do, I saw it on a ‘Preparing for baby’s arrival’ article” Fallon explained</p><p>“You’ve been looking at parenting websites?” Liam asked</p><p>“Yeah, you haven’t?”</p><p>“No, but now I’m thinking I should have” Liam worried</p><p>“It’ll be fine, we have plenty of time to learn. A lot of parenting is learning as you go, you can’t find out everything from a book”</p><p>“As an author, I would like to disagree but in this context I think you’re right, I’m still going to order some books to be delivered to the manor so I can read them when we get back”</p><p>“Whatever makes you feel better.” She shrugged “Can we go back now, I can’t feel my fingers or toes anymore”</p><p>“Yes, we can, thank you for coming with me, I know snow is not really your thing”</p><p>“Anything for you babe” Fallon said as they turned around to head back</p><p>—————</p><p>Hannah was due on January 5th so they planned on being in Manchester a week before, on December 29th. They drove to their hotel, the Bedford inn, which was the best hotel they could find in the area and settled in for their potentially very long stay. They went out to eat on their first night there since they had no food with them, intending to shop the next day.</p><p>The following afternoon, December 30th, Fallon started feeling sick. She ended up throwing up all night with Liam by her side holding her hair back, rubbing her shoulders, and putting cold towels on her forehead.</p><p>“I think I have food poisoning” Fallon groaned after emptying the contents of her stomach for the fourth time. “I don’t think there is much left to come up”</p><p>“I hope it’s just food poisoning, that way if Sophia decides to come early you will still be able to see her”</p><p>“Yeah” Fallon croaked out before she heaved into the toilet again.</p><p>At around 7:00 in the morning Fallon’s phone started to ring and seeing it was Hannah Liam answered it, since Fallon had just managed to get to sleep and he didn’t want to wake her.</p><p>“I’m in labor, we’re on our way to the hospital”<br/>Was the first thing out of Hannah’s mouth as soon as Liam picked up the phone</p><p>“Wait really, oh god ok, we’ll get ready and head over there as soon as possible.” Liam panicked as he hung up the phone</p><p>“Fal, wake up” Liam shook Fallon lightly hoping to wake her</p><p>“What” Fallon whimpered after a second</p><p>“Hannah just called, she’s in labor and she’s on her way to the hospital, we have to go”</p><p>Fallon’s eyes snapped open and suddenly she was wide awake.</p><p>“You’re serious? You better not be joking with me right now Liam” Fallon warned</p><p>“I would never joke about something like this, come on, our baby girl is about to be born!”</p><p>Fallon, suddenly feeling like last night had never happened as adrenaline coursed through her body, swung her legs off the bed and quickly got dressed while Liam packed a bag with a few things in case they had to wait at the hospital for a while. As they were walking out the door they exchanged a quick but sentimental kiss before their lives changed forever.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Sophia</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sophia is born and Fallon and Liam get to spend some time with her.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On the way to the hospital Fallon and Liam were running purely on adrenaline after having a long sleepless night. Fallon’s leg was bouncing in anticipation and anxiety and she was wringing her hands as she thought of all the things that could still go wrong.</p><p>“Fal, babe, relax” Liam said as he reached over to take her hand</p><p>“I can’t, there is still so much that can happen. What if Hannah sees her baby and decides she wants to keep her or what if she meets us in person for the first time and doesn’t like us and doesn’t want to give us the baby.”</p><p>“There’s nothing we can do about any of that. If something happens, it happens and we try to move on. It will be hard and we will be heartbroken but one thing we will not do is try to forcefully take her baby from her, it’s a very hard and complicated decision she has to make for herself and we have to respect her and her choice. All we can do is try to be our best selves and hope for the best.” Liam said calmly</p><p>“Ok” Fallon whispered in defeat</p><p>“After the baby is born, Hannah has 48 hours to make her final decision so we have to be careful not to intrude but also try to be involved to show her that she made the right choice.”</p><p>Fallon just nodded silently.</p><p>When they got to the hospital they parked and rushed inside to check in and a nurse came out to greet them.</p><p>“Hannah has just delivered a tiny but healthy five pound baby girl and she would like you to come up and see her. It was a very fast delivery so even though she wanted you to be here we couldn’t wait.” the nurse said as she led them to Hannah’s room</p><p>“Five pounds!” Fallon gasped “that’s so small, aren’t babies usually bigger than that?” She asked</p><p>“Yes, they are, she probably has a lower birthweight due to the fact that Hannah is fairly small herself, but I assure you, she is a very healthy, beautiful baby girl” the brunette woman explained as they turned down the recovery hall.</p><p>Fallon took a breath as the nurse opened a door at the end of the hall and held it open for them. They walked quietly into the room and saw Hannah sitting on the hospital bed holding a baby wrapped in a hospital blanket with a pink hat that looked handmade. James was sitting on an armchair next to the bed looking at the baby but looked up when he saw them enter.</p><p>“Hi” Hannah said quietly </p><p>“Hello” Fallon whispered back as she stood by the door</p><p>“Would you like to come hold her?” Hannah asked</p><p>Fallon wasn’t quite sure what to do and Liam had to nudge her gently forward to encourage her to take the baby. She walked over to the bed and put out her arms, Hannah gently placing the bundle in them. She moved the blanket out of the way to see Sophia’s face and was immediately in love with the tiny little girl. She had a little bit of blonde hair sticking out of the hat, the cutest little button nose, and lips almost in the shape of a heart. Her eyes were closed but she had long eyelashes and Fallon could assume she had blue eyes since most babies do.</p><p>She turned around to look at Liam and he walked over to her and looked at Sophia’s face, falling in love just as fast as his wife had. Fallon turned back around to look at Hannah with tears pooling in her eyes.</p><p>“She’s beautiful” Fallon whispered </p><p>“She needs to eat soon, if you want to feed her. I was trying to hold her off until you got here.”</p><p>Fallon smiled and nodded and the nurse went to get a bottle and a burp cloth to give to Fallon. James stood up to shake Liam’s hand and to allow Fallon to sit down to feed the baby. Fallon sat in the chair and just stared at the baby sleeping peacefully in her arms as the nurse walked back in and handed her the bottle.</p><p>“You may need to tickle her feet to wake her up enough to eat” the older woman said as she unwrapped the blanket from Sophia’s feet “like this” she said running her finger gently down the little foot causing the baby to squirm. Fallon copied her movements and Sophia let out a little cry.</p><p>“I know, I don’t like being woken up either” Fallon cooed “but it’s time to eat” she said as she brought the bottle up to the perfect heart shaped lips </p><p>Sophia instantly opened her mouth and Fallon pushed the rubber nipple past her lips so she could latch on. She ate for about ten minutes while they all watched, four adults in the room so in love with her and she didn’t even know it. When she finished eating Fallon burped her and she immediately fell back asleep against her chest.</p><p>“Liam, do you want to hold her?” Fallon asked realizing that he hadn’t held her yet</p><p>“If that’s ok” he said looking at Hannah, not wanting to overstep</p><p>“Go ahead” Hannah nodded and Liam reached down to take the baby from Fallon’s arms. </p><p>The infant let out a little whimper at the movement but once she was settled in Liam’s arms she was peaceful once more.</p><p>They stayed in the room for a couple more hours before deciding to give the family some space.</p><p>“I think we better get going” Liam said to Hannah and John </p><p>“Oh, I asked the hospital to give you guys your own room so you could stay here and spend time with her in private, I know it’s awkward with us here.” Hannah mentioned </p><p>“Oh! That’s so thoughtful” Fallon exclaimed </p><p>“You can take her if you want, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away, I wanted to spend some time with you in person” Hannah said, looking a little embarrassed </p><p>“Don’t apologize Hannah, we totally understand” Liam assured her “you’re sure you don’t mind us taking her for a bit?”</p><p>“Uh huh” Hannah nodded “you have the hospital bands so I know you can’t leave the hospital with her. Not that I think you would, I trust you.”</p><p>“Ok, we’ll be back in a bit, thank you for this” Fallon said </p><p>The same nurse from before showed them to their room which was just a few doors down from Hannah’s and looked exactly the same inside.</p><p>“I will get you guys a bottle and some diapers and wipes” the nurse said as she exited the room, returning quickly with the items. “You guys can have this room as long as you want, even overnight, as long as we don’t need it” she informed them “Hannah seemed to want you guys to be as involved at possible which is why she asked us if you could have a room even though we don’t normally do this sort of thing. Just press this button if you need anything and I’ll be right over”</p><p>“Thank you” Fallon and Liam said in unison as the woman left the room again, leaving them alone with Sophia.</p><p>Fallon looked at her phone to check the time and gasped</p><p>“What?” Liam asked, his eyes wide</p><p>“Do you know what day it is? I totally forgot because I was so swept up in all this. It’s New Year’s Eve! She’s a New Years baby!”</p><p>“Oh yeah! I forgot too, that’s awesome”</p><p>—————</p><p>After a couple hours alone with Sophia they decided to go back to Hannah’s room. They were all sitting in chairs and Hannah was holding Sophia in her hospital bed.</p><p>“I really like the name you chose for her” Hannah mentioned “do you have a middle name picked out?” </p><p>“We were actually going to see if you wanted to choose her middle name. We couldn’t decide and thought it might be nice if you chose.”</p><p>“Really? Wow, uh, well I like the name Rose and  I have always said that I would have it as my daughter’s middle name.” She said quietly</p><p>“Rose” Fallon said aloud as if to test the name on her tongue “Sophia Rose. I like that a lot” she smiled “what do you think Liam?”</p><p>“I love it” Liam nodded</p><p>“Sophia Rose Ridley” Hannah whispered as she looked down at her baby in her arms “A beautiful name for a beautiful girl”</p><p>Fallon and Liam exchanged a look at Hannah’s use of their last name, something they had both consciously avoided saying when testing out the name. Fallon hoped it was a good sign.</p><p>—————</p><p>After a few more hours spent with Hannah and James, Fallon and Liam decided to give them some time with Sophia because their family members were coming to meet her. Hannah had said that she wanted them to stay the night because she wanted them to be involved in her care as much as possible so they went back to the hotel to pack a bag for the night and the next day. When they got back they got their room set up and spent some time alone, quietly talking to each other about how crazy the last 24 hours had been. Around 8:00 James came into their room with the baby in the little hospital cot and said Hannah needed to rest after the long day so he had just brought Sophia over instead of having them come get her.</p><p>When he left Fallon rolled the cot over to the couch where they had been sitting watching TV. There was four hours until midnight and they couldn’t believe they would be entering the new year with Sophia in their arms. In the meantime, they fed her, changed her diaper, and cuddled her, soaking up everything they could but trying desperately not to let themselves love her too much, just in case, but they both knew deep down that it was already too late.</p><p>“Fal, 10 minutes until the ball drops” Liam informed her</p><p>Fallon picked up Sophia from her cot and held her tight as the new year ticked closer. When the time hit 12:00 they both whispered “Happy New Year!” And Liam leaned in to give Fallon a lingering kiss. </p><p>“Happy new year Sophia” Fallon whispered and kissed the baby’s forehead “we love you so much already”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I actually didn’t plan for this story to line up with the holidays which is why it’s a little bit off. I wrote this chapter and the last one months ago and didn’t want to change it so it would perfectly line up with New Years. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Waiting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hannah and James make their final decision.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fallon and Liam got to keep Sophia for most of the next 24 hours as Hannah made her final decision. The first night with a newborn was rough especially since they had been up almost the entire night before while Fallon was throwing up. They both got up each time they heard a cry and switched off who changed the diaper and who fed. It was a good system but they were both exhausted when morning rolled around. Liam tried to convince Fallon to take a nap but she said she didn’t want to miss out on anything and that coffee would do just fine. </p><p>During the day they tried to bring Sophia to see Hannah and James a few times but James kept telling them that his girlfriend needed to rest and sent them away for a while, telling them to come back in a couple hours. They knew that having them keep the baby away was Hannah’s way of separating herself from Sophia so it wouldn’t be as painful to let her go. When they did manage to bring Sophia to see her she was distant and somewhat unresponsive and while they hated to see her in so much pain they couldn’t help but be happy they finally had a baby that could be theirs.</p><p>While they were waiting for the final 24 hours of the 48 hour decision period to be up they learned about caring for a newborn. Liam got to change the first poopy diaper because Fallon downright refused, although she did promise she would do it eventually. He had to keep himself from gagging at the thick, black, tar-like substance the nurse assured him was normal for the first poop.</p><p>Another nurse came in to show them how to give Sophia a bath, which she absolutely hated, she screamed through the entire ten minute process.</p><p>“Why is she crying so much? Is she ok, are we hurting her?” Fallon worried</p><p>“Most newborns don’t like having baths at first, it’s just a new sensation she will get used to and hopefully enjoy.” The blonde informed her</p><p>“Am I doing this right?” Liam asked as he gently used a sponge to clean the baby’s wispy blonde hair.</p><p>“You are doing just fine. When he’s done with that would you like to rinse her hair Fallon?” The nurse asked</p><p>“I guess so” Fallon said timidly taking the baby from Liam </p><p>When Sophia was washed and changed into one of the hospital provided onsies they swaddled her and got a bottle ready to feed her, a task in which they were getting pretty good at. After Fallon fed and burped her, Sophia fell asleep and Liam took her to the cot.</p><p>“You really should try to get some sleep Fal, I promise I’ll wake you if anything happens.”</p><p>“You promise?” Fallon gave in, the thought of sleep sounding so tempting </p><p>“Yes, I promise” he said, walking over to where Fallon was laying on the hospital bed to give her a quick kiss on the forehead before she rolled on her side and fell asleep almost instantly.</p><p>—————</p><p>Almost five hours later Fallon’s eyes fluttered open and she lifted her head to look around. She was confused for a second about where she was before her eyes landed on Liam sleeping in the armchair holding Sophia in his arms. They looked so cute that she couldn’t help but reach for her phone to take a picture. She then looked at the time and saw that it was now 7:00pm and felt her stomach squeeze from hunger so she decided to go down to the cafeteria to get them both something to eat before she woke Liam. </p><p>When she got back to their room with two trays of food Liam was still asleep but Sophia was stirring in his arms. She walked over to them and carefully lifted the baby causing her husband to startle awake</p><p>“Oh, god. I thought I dropped her” he gasped, his hand shooting up to his thumping heart.</p><p>“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you, especially like that, but I think she’s getting hungry”</p><p>“It’s fine. Is that food I smell? I’m starving!”</p><p>“Yeah, I just got back from the cafeteria. You eat while I change and feed her and then I’ll eat while you burp her.”</p><p>—————</p><p>The second night with a newborn went a little smoother. They had decided that only one of them would get up to feed and change her so the other one could sleep for a longer stretch and they would switch off who got up.</p><p>The only problem was that they were both finding it difficult to sleep knowing that Hannah would decide in the morning whether she wanted to keep the baby or follow through with the adoption. Each time Fallon would manage to fall asleep she would startle awake after having a nightmare of her baby being taken away from her. She kept having flashbacks to her miscarriages and eventually gave up on sleep, too afraid to close her eyes. </p><p>She instead brought Sophia to the bed with her and cuddled her all night letting Liam sleep. She held the baby close and breathed in her new baby scent that she had already gotten so used to. She paced around the room whenever Sophia fussed and sang softly to her enjoying the alone time in the dark and quiet room while trying not to think about what the morning would bring. </p><p>Eventually Fallon laid back in bed with Sophia on her chest and finally drifted off to sleep, comforted by the weight on her body and the Sophia’s soft breathing.</p><p>—————</p><p>“Fal, babe, it’s almost 8. Hannah’s social worker just called and said she’ll be here soon.” Liam said while gently shaking Fallon awake.</p><p>“What?” Fallon mumbled</p><p>“A social worker is going to be here soon, you have to get ready. I’ll feed Sophia while you shower and change”</p><p>Fallon’s heart jumped in her throat at her husbands words as he passed the baby to him and got up to go shower not saying anything as she felt she might throw up if she opened her mouth.</p><p>They had been instructed to meet Hannah’s social worker at 8:00am in Hannah and James’s hospital room. They exited their room, Fallon holding Sophia, just as the social worker they had met a few times walked past their room.</p><p>“Good morning you two!” She chirped “let’s get this sweet little girl settled with a family shall we?” The young woman said as she practically bounced down the hallway in front of them</p><p>“God, she’s so perky, who has that much energy this early in the morning” Fallon groaned in annoyance.</p><p>“Fallon” Liam warned</p><p>“Fine. I’ll be good” she said in a fake sweet tone. She was clearly tired and stressed and it was taking a toll on her.</p><p>When they reached the room they all exchanged brief “good morning”s with a thick blanket of awkwardness and anxiety hanging in the air. </p><p>“Alright Hannah, James, have you made your decision?” The social worker asked gently</p><p>“Yes” Hannah nodded, and Fallon could tell that she had been crying and that she hadn’t gotten any sleep from her red eyes “I decided I want them to adopt her. They can offer her so much more than I can, and even though I love her so so much, I know they will, and do, love her just as much and I can’t think of anybody I would rather have be the parents of my daughter” she said softly as tears rolled down her cheeks</p><p>Hearing her words, Fallon nearly crumpled to the floor in relief. She let out a choked sob and handed Sophia to Liam so she could go hug Hannah who was sitting on the edge of her hospital bed.</p><p>“Thank you” Fallon sobbed “we will love her unconditionally and give her the best life possible, I promise” </p><p>“Ok then. Hannah and James, I am going to need you to sign some paperwork relinquishing  your parental rights to this child and acknowledging that you are giving all your rights to Fallon and Liam.” The young woman said while looking between the two couples “and Fallon and Liam, I am going to need you to sign some paperwork as well proving that you are now the legal guardians of this child until the adoption is finalized.” They all nodded as she handed out paperwork and pens and showed them where to sign “after the paperwork is completed Hannah and Sophia will be discharged from the hospital and you are all free to leave. We will complete everything else at our agency.”</p><p>When every line had been signed nurses came to do final work ups on both Hannah and Sophia before they were both discharged. Fallon and Liam went back to their hospital room where Fallon immediately broke down in tears. She had managed to keep herself somewhat together while they were with Hannah but as soon as they were in private she couldn’t stop herself from sobbing in relief and happiness.</p><p>“She’s gunna be ours Liam” she hiccuped</p><p>“I know”he whispered, tears starting to form in his eyes as he enveloped Fallon and Sophia, holding them tight as they cried.</p><p>They managed to get themselves together and  gather their things and Liam brought the car seat up from the car as Fallon got Sophia dressed in the outfit she had planned to be her coming home outfit. It was a white onesie with flared short sleeves and ruffled light pink bloomers. She put a headband with big pink and white flowers on her head and the tiniest white socks on her feet. She finished dressing her right as Liam walked in with the car seat.</p><p>“Oh she is so cute in that outfit” he said as he walked up to them. “Is she ready to go?”</p><p>“Yes she is! Can you put her in the car seat, I don’t know how to work that thing and I don’t want to hurt her.”</p><p>“Sure, but watch me do it so you can learn how for next time.”</p><p>When Sophia was safely strapped in they went down to the car and drove to the hotel. Liam drove more carefully than he had ever done in his life. He followed the speed limit exactly, looked everywhere and in all of his mirrors, and stopped for the appropriate amount of time at all the stop signs.</p><p>When they finally made it back to the hotel they requested a crib to be brought to their room and then Liam went out shopping to get all of the baby essentials they would need for the next two weeks they had to stay there. They had gotten some things from the hospital but it wasn’t near the amount of stuff they’d need. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, taking care of Sophia, and trying to catch up on sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Missing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam get some troubling news.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy New Year everybody!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hi, is this Fallon?” A woman on the phone asked</p><p>“Yes, I’m Fallon” Fallon responded</p><p>“I’m afraid I have some bad news.” She said causing Fallon’s heart to drop “I called Hannah and James this morning to arrange for them to do some follow up paperwork and Hannah is no where to be found. Nobody knows where she is, not even James. He said she went out last night and never came back.”</p><p>Fallon just stood there in the middle of the hotel room not knowing what to say to the information she had just received </p><p>“Hello?” The woman on the phone said</p><p>“Hi, yeah, I’m here” Fallon murmured </p><p>“I just wanted to call and let you know what is going on and to remind you that you and your husband are still the legal guardians of Sophia. We will do everything we can to find Hannah so just hang tight while we sort this out, we will call you with any new information.”</p><p>“Thank you” Fallon practically whispered</p><p>The moment the call ended Liam walked out of the bathroom after having a shower.</p><p>“Good mor- what’s wrong?” He said when he saw Fallon’s pale face.</p><p>“Hannah is gone” </p><p>“What do you mean gone” Liam said starting to panic</p><p>“Nobody knows where she is, not even James. She’s been missing since last night”</p><p>“Holy shit” Liam said as he ran a hand nervously through his hair</p><p>“What do we do Liam” Fallon whispered as she sank down slowly to sit on the bed</p><p>Liam walked over and sat on the bed next to his wife to pull her into a hug. Fallon sighed and leaned into him as she processed what was happening.</p><p>“We don’t do anything and we wait.” Liam said softly “we continue to take care of that little girl over there and we wait until we hear something. Maybe Hannah just needed some space, she just made the hardest decision of her life, I know I’d need space after that.”</p><p>“But what if she ran away for good, or what if she comes back and decides she wants her baby after all and takes her away from us?”</p><p>“Let’s give her a few days to show back up and see what she has to say. And like I said before, if she wants her baby, we give her her baby.”</p><p>“But I don’t know if I can wait a few days.”</p><p>“You can and you are going to. We knew this process would be hard and we have been very lucky up until this point. This is just one of the hard parts that we will have to get through”</p><p>Fallon just nodded her understanding and sighed heavily</p><p>“Looks like someone is up” Liam said when he heard a whimper from the bassinet next to the bed “do you want to feed her or should I?”</p><p>“I’ll do it” Fallon said as she got up and walked over to pick up Sophia.</p><p>For the rest of the day all Fallon could think about was Hannah. She paced around the hotel room and hardly ate or drank anything. Liam even though he heard her quietly talking to herself while she was deep in thought. He tried to get her to eat but everything he offered she turned down. She eventually wore herself down enough by the end of the day that she fell asleep on the couch in their room. Liam carefully carried her to bed and tucked her in so she could hopefully have at least a few hours of sleep.</p><p>—————</p><p>The next morning Fallon called the agency to see if they had any news on Hannah.</p><p>“Hi, I was just wondering if you have any information about Hannah” she said when the person picked up the phone</p><p>“No, I’m sorry, we haven’t heard anything. We talked to her parents and friends yesterday and nobody has seen her or knows where she might be.”</p><p>“What if she doesn’t come back?” Fallon asked</p><p>“We have actually had this happen before and they always come back. Usually they just need time to themselves to think and get themselves together.”</p><p>“Oh...but what happens if she doesn’t?” Fallon pressed</p><p>“We will cross that bridge if we get there. I will call you as soon as we hear anything Mrs. Ridley, I promise”</p><p>“Thank you, I hope to hear from you soon”</p><p>“Goodbye Fallon, hang in there”</p><p>“Still no news?” Liam asked when Fallon hung up the phone and she shook her head. “Why don’t we go do something today to take our minds off it and pass the time.”</p><p>“Like what?” Fallon said curiously </p><p>“How does shopping and lunch sound?”</p><p>“You know I can never resist shopping.”</p><p>“Exactly” Liam smirked</p><p>—————</p><p>While they were out shopping Fallon couldn’t help looking around thinking that maybe, just maybe, she would spot Hannah in one of the stores. She tried to enjoy their time out but she couldn’t stop her mind from wandering to the worst case scenarios. Liam could tell she was in her head because she was being very quiet. Usually when they shopped she would be talking about what she wanted to buy and what stores she wanted to go to. He did his best to distract her by asking questions but her responses were always short and clipped.</p><p>They stopped for lunch when Sophia started squirming in the carrier Liam was wearing her in. Liam took her to the bathroom to change her diaper while Fallon got a bottle ready to feed her when he came back. The ordered their food and by the time it arrived Sophia was back asleep and they were able to enjoy their food without  having to worry about her.</p><p>“You seem distant, are you doing ok?” Liam questioned when Fallon zoned out while eating her salad</p><p>“Hm? Oh, I’m just worried. I’m not going to be able to relax until Hannah comes back, there’s nothing you can do to help unless you somehow locate her, which you can’t”</p><p>“What about if you go get a massage? I’ll watch Sophia while you’re there. The least it can do is relax your muscles even if it can’t relax your brain.” Liam suggested</p><p>“Ok, yeah that’s probably a good idea. Are their any good massage places around here?”</p><p>“I don’t know, I’ll check when we’re done eating.”</p><p>After lunch and after the massage Fallon and Liam went back to their hotel. It was cold and snowy so they didn’t want to keep a newborn out for too long. Fallon did feel a little more relaxed after her full spa treatment so she was able to take a quick nap and when she woke up Liam went down to the hotel gym to get out a bit of his stress. </p><p>By dinner they had still not heard anything from the agency about Hannah so Fallon decided that if they didn’t call in the morning she would call them again even though they promised they would contact them if they had any news.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Found</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After a few more agonizing days, Hannah is finally found.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was now four days after Hannah had first gone missing. Fallon had called the agency each morning when she didn’t hear anything from them the day before. Everyone was starting to panic now, even the social workers, which scared Fallon and Liam. They couldn’t bring themselves to go out so they spent their time in the hotel room trying to relax as much as they could and taking turns caring for Sophia. </p><p>They were both exhausted, mentally and physically. It was stressful enough having to deal with Hannah’s disappearance but adding a newborn to the mix made everything ten times more difficult. Every time one of their phones rang they both jumped up to see who was calling, only to be let down again and again. </p><p>They were beginning to lose hope when Fallon got a call on the fourth day from the agency. She picked up right away</p><p>“Hello?! Did you find her” she practically yelled into the phone</p><p>“We found her.” The social worker said calmly and Fallon nodded excitedly at Liam and have him a thumbs up causing him to perk up and try to listen to the conversation.</p><p>“Where was she?” Fallon asked</p><p>“She needed some space and the only way she could think of getting the time she needed was by being totally by herself without anyone knowing where she was or where to contact her. She came in this morning crying and apologized for all the trouble and stress she caused.” The woman explained</p><p>“Thank god” Fallon sighed “wait...did she change her mind about anything?” She asked apprehensively </p><p>“Luckily for you, no, she still wants to move forward with the adoption, she just wanted time to process it all.”</p><p>“Ok good. When are we going to do the paperwork, I want to get this over with.”</p><p>“Hannah would also like to have this all finished up too so she she and James are coming by the agency tomorrow morning to sign all the papers. We will need you and Liam here as well, at 9:00.</p><p>“We’ll be there.” Fallon promised “see you tomorrow” she said, and hung up</p><p>“They found her!?” Liam asked excitedly</p><p>“Yep! And she still wants to move forward with everything so we need to be at the agency tomorrow morning at 9 to sign the paperwork”</p><p>“Oh thank god, I was so worried. I’m glad she took the time she needed though, I can’t even begin to imagine what she is going through right now. You can tell she’s an amazing mother because she is putting her baby’s needs before her own feelings even if it is the worst she has felt in her entire life.”</p><p>“You’re right. I hope I can be even half as good of a mom that she is.”</p><p>“You will be, you’ll see”</p><p>—————</p><p>The next morning Liam got up first to feed and change Sophia and to pack the diaper bag. When he was finished he woke Fallon up and put Sophia on the bed next to her so he could go take a shower and get ready. When he was done they switched places and Fallon went to shower and get dressed. When everyone was ready to go they buckled Sophia in the car seat and went down to the car. </p><p>“I hope this all goes well” Fallon said as Liam put the car seat in the car and then got into the driver’s seat.</p><p>“Me too. I think after all this paperwork is done we can go back home to Atlanta and have the adoption finalized and the birth certificate changed, I’m not positive though, we’ll have to ask.”</p><p>“I can’t wait to go home, I’m tired of living in a hotel room”</p><p>“Me too. Hopefully we’ll have that little one with us when we do finally go home.” Liam said gesturing to the baby behind him</p><p>—————</p><p>At the agency they all sat together in a conference room and talked about the next steps and signed what felt like thousands of papers. Fallon and Liam were told they were allowed to go home as soon as all the paperwork was processed which would take a few days at minimum but could take up to a week. When they finished everybody was crying, hugging, shaking hands, and promising to stay in contact.</p><p>“I promise I will always let her know how much you love her and I’ll talk to her about you and tell her how wonderful of a person you are” Fallon said to Hannah as they both cried while saying their goodbyes </p><p>“Thank you, I know you’ll be a better mother to her than I ever could.”</p><p>“I’ll try my very best” Fallon promised</p><p>Then they all went their own ways in the parking lot and drove home. The social worker had told Fallon and Liam that they would call as soon as their paperwork was processed so they could go home. </p><p>“That went so well.” Fallon said as soon as they got in the car “it was a bit awkward at first but once we all got settled in it actually wasn’t too bad”</p><p>“I know! I was expecting there to be some sort of issue. I even thought that Hannah might not show up, but everything went so smoothly”</p><p>“I had the same exact thought but as soon as I saw her walk in I knew it was going to be fine.”</p><p>“Hopefully they’ll get the paperwork done soon so we can get out of here.” Liam chuckled</p><p>“I’m counting on them only taking a few days, maybe they’ll pity us because of the whole disappearance thing and get it done fast” Fallon said</p><p>“I wouldn’t hold your breath, social workers are known for taking their damn time.</p><p>“I know, but one can hope!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Visits</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hannah and James visit Sophia and Fallon and Liam fill out the final paperwork before that can go home</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the following days after all the paperwork was signed Fallon started gathering all their stuff together. She ended up needing to get another two suitcases to fit all of Sophia’s things. They had managed to accumulate a ton of baby stuff in the past couple weeks without really even noticing. Hannah had given Sophia a little blue romper with a bunny on the front, a pink hat that she had made, and a purple stuffed elephant that made music when you pulled its tail. </p><p>On the third day of waiting for the agency to get back about the paperwork being processed Fallon got a call from Hannah asking if she and James could come see Sophia one last time. Fallon initially didn’t really want them to but Liam, being the kindhearted person he was, convinced her to let them come. They arranged for them to come to their hotel the following day so they wouldn’t have to bring Sophia out into the cold. </p><p>—————</p><p>At ten the next morning Liam went down to the hotel lobby to meet Hannah and James and bring them up to the hotel room.</p><p>“How has she been?” Hannah asked Liam shyly</p><p>“She’s been great, she is such an angel. She doesn’t cry unless she’s hungry or uncomfortable” </p><p>“That’s good” Hannah murmured</p><p>Liam looked at her to try to gauge how she was feeling. It was hard to know if she was regretting her decision or just trying to be respectful. He guessed that she didn’t really know either. </p><p>“How have you been Hannah?” Liam asked when they stepped into the elevator</p><p>“I’ve been ok” was all she said and Liam decided not to ask any further questions about her well-being.</p><p>When they reached the hotel room door Liam used his card to unlock it and held it open so Hannah and James could enter first. Fallon, who was sitting on the couch holding Sophia, got up when she heard them come in.</p><p>They all exchanged brief hellos and Fallon asked Hannah if she wanted to hold Sophia. She hesitated at first and Fallon thought she saw a bit of fear in her eyes before she reached out and took the baby</p><p>“Thank you for letting us come see her” James said as he watched his girlfriend hold their daughter. </p><p>“It’s no big deal, I’m glad you get to see her again before we leave.” Liam assured him</p><p>“Do you mind if I take a couple pictures of you guys holding her?” Fallon asked “I want to have some pictures of you with her to show her when she’s older”</p><p>They both nodded and they they spent the next 20 minutes taking some pictures of each of them holding her, some of the three of them, and then they took a couple of all of them together.</p><p>“Thanks, I think she will really appreciate these when she’s older.” Fallon said</p><p>“If you want, I can send some pictures of her brother Johnathan, so she has some of him too” Hannah suggested</p><p>“That would be great” Fallon nodded “thank you”</p><p>They stayed for another couple of hours chatting about their family and told Fallon some stories that she could tell Sophia when she was older enough to understand. </p><p>Hannah stressed the fact that they really wanted Sophia to know that they loved her with all their hearts and that they weren’t abandoning her, they were giving her the opportunity to do more with her life than she would have been able to do had she stayed with them. </p><p>Hannah confessed to Fallon that her greatest fear was that Sophia would grow up hating her, thinking that she was abandoned and unloved. Fallon promised that she would do everything in her power not to let that happen and that she would only speak of them in a positive way.</p><p>When they left Hannah cried and kissed Sophia’s cheek one last time before hugging Fallon and thanking them for letting her come see Sophia. Fallon was glad that Liam had convinced her to let them come.</p><p>“I think it was good for Hannah to see Sophia one last time, it think it gave her some closure.” She said to Liam after he returned from leading them back out to the lobby </p><p>“You think so?”</p><p>“Yeah. I feel like she really wanted me to know that she didn’t want Sophia to grow up hating her but was afraid to tell me before, but now that I promised I won’t let that happen, she’ll be happier.”</p><p>“I hope so, this must be really hard for her. She’s so young”</p><p>“And she’s already got a child, so she knows what she’ll be missing.” Fallon agreed</p><p>—————</p><p>Later that evening they got a call from their social worker saying that most of their paperwork had been processed but they needed to come in to sign something they missed. They arranged to go the following morning when the agency opened so they could process it as soon as possible.</p><p>Fallon went to bed happy and got the best sleep she had had in months, even with having to get up to feed Sophia. She didn’t realize how truly exhausted she had been.</p><p>The next morning they got up and Liam fed Sophia and Fallon got her dressed. She put her in a pale pink long sleeve romper and a hat and then put a teeny fluffy white one piece with long sleeves and feet over it to keep her warm. Then they got dressed themselves and headed out the door.</p><p>“Maybe they’ll get this paper processed today and we can leave tomorrow” Fallon said as they walked up to the agency</p><p>“That would be nice”</p><p>They each only had to sign one paper and not only did the agency say they could process it that day, they processed it while they were there and told them they were free to go back to Atlanta and resume the rest of the process with their agency there.</p><p>They were so excited that they called their pilot  as soon as they left the building and arranged for him to pick them up the next afternoon. Then they drove back to their hotel and finished packing what they could, leaving the stuff they’d need for the night and the next morning out. </p><p>Liam surprised Fallon with a reservation at a nice restaurant one town over to celebrate their last night there. They got dressed up for the first time since they’d been in New Hampshire and Fallon properly did her hair and makeup.</p><p>They didn’t spend too long there considering they had to bring Sophia with them and wanted to be up early the next day so they had time to get ready, finish packing, and get over to the airport which was an hour away. They both went to bed buzzing with excitement about actually being able to bring Sophia home with them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Home</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam have a little trouble during the night and they finally get to go home!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I thought I’d add a little more of Sophia in this one. Hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fallon startled awake to the sound of shrill crying. She quickly sat up in bed to look in the bassinet beside her only to realize that Sophia was not in it. She whipped her head around in a panic and saw Liam standing at the end of the bed holding her and rocking back and forth with a strained expression on his face.</p><p>“What’s going on? What time is it?” Fallon asked looking at the clock on the night stand. Seeing that it was 2:30 in the morning she got out of bed and check on Sophia.</p><p>“She won’t stop crying, I don’t know what else to do. I changed her diaper, fed her, and burped her. Nothing is working”</p><p>“Maybe she’s still hungry, did she finish the bottle you fed her?”</p><p>“Yeah, she did” Liam nodded</p><p>“I’ll make her another one and we can see if she’ll take it” Fallon said as she went over to mix the formula. </p><p>She heated it up and handed the bottle to Liam. He stuck the nipple past Sophia’s lips when she let out a loud open-mouthed cry, only to have her push the rubber back out with her tongue. He tried again and she wrenched her head away and squirmed in his arms letting out another wail.</p><p>“I don’t think she’s going to take it Fal”</p><p>“Let me try”</p><p>Fallon reached out and took the screaming infant into her arms and bounced her a few times to try to get her to calm down. When she wouldn’t stop crying she took the bottle from Liam and tried to put it into Sophia’s mouth but the baby turned her head away and cried louder. </p><p>“Hold on, let me get my phone and look up why she could be crying” Liam said as he went over to the nightstand to grab his phone and quickly started typing.</p><p>“Ok, let’s see...I don’t think she has a fever, she didn’t feel hot to me. She’s clearly not hungry and I just changed her. Maybe try giving her a pacifier”</p><p>Fallon walked over to the diaper bag to look for a pacifier and tried to get Sophia to take it, which she wouldn’t</p><p>“What else?” Fallon said starting to get frustrated</p><p>“Does she feel cold to you?” Liam questioned </p><p>“Maybe, I don’t know”</p><p>“We could try giving her a bath” </p><p>“What good would that do” Fallon snapped</p><p>“It would warm her up and if she has an upset stomach it could help that as well.”</p><p>“Ok, yeah, go fill the tub”</p><p>Fallon and Liam had quickly realized when they had brought Sophia home from the hospital that they didn’t have a good bathing set up. The sink was too small, the tub was too big, and they didn’t have a baby bath. Since they were only staying a couple weeks and already had a baby bath at home they didn’t want to buy another one so they’d had come up with a solution. They would fill the tub about half way with warm water and then one of them would get in the tub and hold Sophia and wash her. </p><p>It wasn’t ideal but it was what worked best. They had tried to both be kneeling out of the tub with one holding the baby and one washing her but they both ended up with sore knees and achey backs. With their solution, only one person had to do the holding and the washing so they took turns. Whoever didn’t have to get in the water would take Sophia after the bath and get her dressed while the other rinsed off.</p><p>“It’s your turn to get in the bath.” Liam reminded Fallon as he turned on the water </p><p>“I know” Fallon growled</p><p>Liam put his arms up as if to surrender and then reached out to take Sophia so he could undress her while Fallon also got undressed. Once the water was high enough Fallon stepped in the tub and sat down. Liam leaned over and handed the still crying baby to her. Fallon slowly lowered Sophia into the warm water between her legs and as if by magic, Sophia’s cries slowly came to a stop. Both Fallon and Liam let out sighs at the silence.</p><p>“Thank god, I was beginning to think she’d never stop, she was crying for an hour before you woke up” Liam chuckled in relief</p><p>“Maybe she was just cold. Go get her thicker pair of pajamas and her sleep sack to change her into, hopefully she’ll be warmer.”</p><p>Liam quickly left the bathroom and returned with the items Fallon had suggested </p><p>“These?” He asked while holding up the two items of clothing</p><p>“Yeah” Fallon nodded</p><p>Liam left again and came back after a few moments.</p><p>“Keep her in there for a bit longer just in case it’s her stomach that’s bothering her” he said and Fallon just nodded as she moved Sophia’s legs in a bicycle motion, something she had learned from parenting websites that was supposed to help with gas.</p><p>After a few more minutes they decided that it was time to get Sophia changed so Liam took her through to the bed where he had laid out a fresh diaper and the clothes. Fallon got out of the tub, drained the water, dried off, and put her pajamas back on before going back into the bedroom.</p><p>Once Sophia was changed Liam picked her up and rocked her in his arms to try to get her back to sleep. The poor baby had tired herself out with all the crying and quickly fell into a deep sleep. He held her for a few more minutes to ensure she was asleep before very carefully placing her back into the bassinet. Once she was settled Liam let out his breath that he had unconsciously held.</p><p>The couple climbed back into bed and snuggled under the covers until the both fell back asleep.</p><p>—————</p><p>In the morning, instead of getting up early as they had intended, Fallon fed Sophia and then put her on the mattress between her and Liam and they dozed for another hour. When they finally decided to get up, they showered and dressed and finished packing their things. Fallon made sure the diaper bag was packed with all they would need for their flight home while Liam did a final sweep of the room, making sure they didn’t leave anything behind.</p><p>Fallon then buckled Sophia in her car seat and Liam went to get a cart for all of their bags. They hardly talked the entire morning because they were so tired from the night before. Fallon felt like she was doing everything on autopilot. On their way to the car she grabbed them each a bagel from the hotel buffet breakfast and quickly caught up to Liam who had gone ahead.</p><p>They packed the car and secured Sophia’s seat before calling their pilot to tell him that they were on their way to the airport and would be there in about an hour. Liam took a big bite of his bagel and started the engine. </p><p>“I’m so happy we’re finally going home” he said as he pulled out of the parking lot “I feel like it will be a lot easier with all of our own stuff and people around to help out.”</p><p>“For sure. I’m excited for that baby bath after last nights ordeal.” Fallon said rolling her eyes “I also can’t wait for everyone to meet her, it’s going to be so much fun introducing her to the family.”</p><p>“Who do you think is going to spoil her the most?” Liam asked jokingly</p><p>“After me, you mean?” Fallon teased “There is no doubt in my mind that Blake will spoil her rotten, just like he did to me”</p><p>“Oh no, not another Fallon” </p><p>“Hey!” Fallon gasped</p><p>“I’m kidding, I’d love to have another you in my life”</p><p>—————</p><p>When they finally got to the airport their luggage was loaded onto their private jet and then they returned the car. They climbed up the steps to the cabin and got ready for takeoff. Sophia slept through pretty much the whole flight which was a relief. When they landed their driver came to pick them up and drove them back to their manor. </p><p>“Look, baby, we’re home” Fallon whispered as she took Sophia out of the car.</p><p>Liam walked around the car and held his hand out to take the car seat and then took Fallon’s hand in the other. They walked up the front steps together and opened the front door, breathing in the familiar scent of home.</p><p>“It’s so good to be back” Fallon sighed “especially with our new little family member.” She grinned looking down at Sophia in the car seat Liam had placed on the floor at his feet.</p><p>“Welcome home Sophia” Liam said softly</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Settling in</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam adjust to life at their manor with a baby.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After Fallon and Liam got home they quickly realized that they needed a bunch more baby stuff. They hadn’t bought much before they got Sophia because they didn’t want to get their hopes up but were now realizing that they should have at least gotten the essentials. </p><p>When Fallon unpacked their suitcases she noticed that they only had 4 diapers left which wouldn’t last through the night. She remembered that she had bought some before they left, just in case, and had put them in a drawer of the changing table so she sent Liam to go get some to keep in their bedroom.</p><p>“Fallon, come here, you’ve got to see this!” Liam yelled from down the hall</p><p>Fallon quickly picked up Sophia and hurried to the nursery where she saw Liam peeking his head out the door.</p><p>“Look at this!” He exclaimed while moving out of the way for Fallon to see in the room causing her to gasp.</p><p>Someone had come while they were away and fully stocked the room with all the necessities. The drawers were full of diapers and wipes, the clothes that they had bought before were washed and hung up in the closet or folded in drawers. There was a large stuffed bear in the rocking chair with a sign carefully placed on its lap that said “Welcome home Sophia!” In curly pink letters. There were even some gift baskets that had bath stuff like soaps and towels and one that had baby care things like nail clippers, a baby thermometer, and everything else you could think of.</p><p>“Who did all this!” Fallon gasped, tears threatening to leave her eyes</p><p>“There’s a note on the changing table” Liam noticed and then went to read it aloud</p><p>“Fallon and Liam, congratulations on your newest little family member. We know you didn’t have many supplies so we decided to surprise you by getting everything you need. We hope we are able to meet her soon, whenever you are ready. We are so happy for you and couldn’t be more proud. We love you so so much. Blake and Alexis”</p><p>“This is so nice of them!” Fallon said as she started going around the room to look at everything. “ I have to admit, I was dreading having to figure out what we needed and getting it all, so this is great. I’ll call them later and thank them and maybe we can arrange for them to come meet her”</p><p>“Let’s try to settle in first and establish a routine before people come to the house to see her, at least a few days” Liam said</p><p>“Good idea, we’ll see how it goes for a few days and then invite people over.” Fallon agreed</p><p>—————</p><p>Adjusting to life with a baby at their manor was much different than in a hotel room. Everything was farther away or on the floor that they weren’t on. It was tiring having to go up and down the stairs retrieving things they had forgotten to bring downstairs in the morning.</p><p>“We have got to do something about this” Liam panted as he came down from his third trip upstairs that morning.</p><p>“I know. I was thinking of just buying two of everything, one to have upstairs and one downstairs.”</p><p>“Yeah, do that. How soon can you have everything?” </p><p>“Tomorrow, if you watch Sophia for a bit” Fallon said handing the baby over</p><p>“Gladly. Go do your thing” Liam said taking Sophia </p><p>Fallon went upstairs to their office and ordered everything they needed and paid for next day shipping. It took her a while to figure out what she needed to get more of but after an hour of making a list she figured she had it all, and they’d quickly figure out if she’d forgotten something.</p><p>She headed back down to the living room where she had left Liam but heard his voice coming from the kitchen so she made her way there instead. When she got to the door she stopped to listen to what he was saying</p><p>“This is mommy’s favorite dish, I’m going to surprise her with it.” He said “I know she’s not technically your mommy yet, but she will be soon. She loves you so much, I hardly get a chance to hold you” Liam chuckled “but that’s ok, she’s been waiting for this for so long, she can hold you as much as she wants.” </p><p>Fallon peaked inside to see what he was doing without giving herself away. Liam was at the stove with Sophia in a bouncer on the floor next to him. As he mixed the food on the stove he was looking down at the baby and talking to her. Fallon made a mental note to let Liam spend more time with Sophia, not realizing she had been hogging her so much.</p><p>“I know people say to cherish these baby years but I can’t wait until you are walking and talking. I want to hear everything that is going on inside that cute little head of yours. I want to teach you how to swim and I want to read you stories and have you point and laugh at the funny pictures.” Liam continued </p><p>Fallon decided this was the moment to step in the kitchen </p><p>“And I can’t wait to teach you how to run a business and not take no for an answer. I want you to be my little business side kick that everyone is afraid of even though you’re only a kid.” Fallon added as she smiled at her husband </p><p>“How long were you listening?” Liam asked, his cheeks going slightly pink</p><p>“Long enough” Fallon said reaching him and giving him a quick peck on the lips “I love you. You are going to be a wonderful father”</p><p>“I love you too, though, I am slightly worried about what you’re going to turn our daughter into”</p><p>“Don’t worry, I was joking...kinda” Fallon teased</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I hope you enjoyed that little Liam and Sophia moment</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Meeting Family</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sophia gets to meet some of her new family.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Once Fallon and Liam had settled into a routine they decided it was time to invite close family and friends to meet Sophia. Fallon called Blake and Alexis and told them they could come by the manor for lunch. She then called Sam and Monica and said they could come before dinner.</p><p>When Blake and Alexis arrived Sophia was sleeping but they were able to look inside the cot to see her.</p><p>“She is too cute” Alexis whispered “I love her little button nose”</p><p>“What about those lips!” Blake exclaimed quietly “and her chubby cheeks, I could squeeze them all day long”</p><p>“Everything about her is just the cutest, she’s perfect” Alexis added</p><p>“Isn’t she? We are so in love with her” Fallon said</p><p>“Do you have a court date yet to finalize the adoption?” Blake asked</p><p>“No, not yet. We are going to the agency tomorrow to see what the next steps are. I think we have more paperwork to fill out here before we go to court” Fallon explained</p><p>Just then Sophia started to whimper</p><p>“She shouldn’t be hungry” Liam said “ Fallon just fed her. Does one of you want to hold her?”</p><p>“Can I?” Blake asked</p><p>Liam nodded and Blake picked up the little girl and cradled her in his arms and rocked gently. </p><p>“Do you mind if I walk around outside with her for a bit” </p><p>“Go ahead. Just don’t go to far” Fallon nodded</p><p>Blake took Sophia outside and walked slowly around the back of the property. Fallon stepped over to the window to watch him and she could tell he was speaking to Sophia and she wondered what he was saying. He started pointing things out like the trees and the clouds, showing her the world, even though she was far too young to understand.</p><p>“What do you think he’s telling her” Liam said from behind Fallon causing her to jump slightly</p><p>Fallon leaned into him and he put his arm around her waist as they both watched their soon to be daughter and Blake walk around</p><p>“I think he’s telling her about the trees, but I can’t say for sure.”</p><p>“You don’t think he’s explaining energy and oil and prepping her to take over the company when he dies.” Liam teased</p><p>“He better not be, not when she can’t even sit up yet. Oh look, he’s coming back, why don’t you ask him.” Fallon said rhetorically </p><p>The remainder of their visit was spent passing around Sophia. Liam had made a nice lunch for them all and set it out in the living room so they could chat while they were eating. </p><p>Fallon and Liam told them all about New Hampshire and about the whole disappearance issue. They talked about the next steps in the adoption and how long it would be until they could officially call Sophia theirs. </p><p>When Blake and Alexis left, Fallon took Sophia upstairs so they could both take a quick nap while Liam cleaned up before Monica and Sam came over. Fallon wasn’t usually one to take naps but the sleepless nights were catching up to her so Liam had convinced her to go lie down for a bit.</p><p>—————</p><p>“Monica, Sam, come on in! Fallon is just waking up from a nap and should be down with Sophia any second” Liam greeted their friends at the door</p><p>As if she had heard her name Fallon appeared at the top of the stairs holding the newborn</p><p>“Fallon! Oh my gosh, how are you?!” Monica exclaimed when she saw her friend start to walk down the stairs</p><p>“Much better now that I’ve had a decent nap. You guys arrived at the perfect time, this little lady here needs fed if one of you wants the honor”</p><p>“Call it!” Sam blurted out</p><p>“Ok Sam, chill, I’ll go get you a bottle.” Fallon chucked softly while giving the man a quizzical look as she handed Sophia off to him</p><p>“Sorry, I’m just excited to meet her” Sam blushed “Speaking of, she is precious. Ugh, look at her, why can’t I have eyelashes like that. You better watch out Liam, with a face like this, she’s gunna get all the boys. Or girls, we don’t judge.”</p><p>“Hey now, she’s only 3 weeks old. Give it a bit of time before you start saying things like that about my daughter” Liam said in a fake stern voice</p><p>“You boys, I’m gunna go find Fallon” Monica scoffed as she walked off in the direction Fallon had gone</p><p>“Hi mon” Fallon greeted when Monica walked into the kitchen where she was prepping a bottle for Sam</p><p>“Hey Fal, how are you, really?”</p><p>“I’m fine” Fallon said cheerily but Monica gave her a look that said she knew Fallon was lying</p><p>“Ok fine, you got me. I’m tired, I’m stressed, and I’m a little overwhelmed. But I feel so guilty feeling this way when I finally have what I have wanted for so long. I don’t understand why I can’t just be happy, why I can’t just enjoy my baby without feeling like my world is also imploding” Fallon rambled</p><p>“I think it’s normal for new parents to feel that way. It’s a huge change for you and for Liam and for your relationship as a whole. It’s uncharted territory and I think that just comes with being a mom. I think some, or most, of the stress is from not being finished with all of this yet and hopefully when you do get those final papers signed it’ll be like a huge weight off your shoulders.” </p><p>“I hope so. I don’t know how long I can continue like this, and I haven’t even gone back to work yet. How am I supposed to work when I have to leave her?” </p><p>“Don’t think about that now, you still have quite a while before you go back to work so just enjoy spending time with her and cross that bridge when you get there.” Monica said</p><p>“You’re right, I’m catasrophozing, my therapist told me I needed to work on that.”</p><p>“Recognizing that is the first step. Is the bottle ready? I’m sure Sophia is getting hungry, plus I left the poor girl out there with the boys, we should go rescue her.” </p><p>“Oh yeah, it’s ready, let’s go” Fallon laughed lightly </p><p>—————</p><p>After Sam fed Sophia Monica got a chance to hold her. They all chatted and caught up on each other’s lives and what everyone had been up to. They discussed the party that Sam and Monica were throwing and decided to have it on the day they went to court, when they got back. They didn’t have a court date yet so they would send out invites as soon as it was confirmed by the agency. Other than the date, Sam and Monica had pretty much planned everything. They had hired caterers and bartenders and had bought all of the decorations and they had a guest list already set up.</p><p>“How many people are coming?” Fallon asked</p><p>“I think about fifty?” Sam said, looking at Monica for reassurance on the number</p><p>“Yeah, just under fifty” Monica confirmed </p><p>“Do you think you could get it closer to 40 or maybe even 30?” Liam questioned</p><p>“We can try, no promises though.” Sam said cheekily</p><p>“Sam” Fallon warned </p><p>“Ok fine, thirty-five people it is” Sam surrendered </p><p>They talked about plans a little more and then Monica and Sam decided it was time to leave. Liam went to go make dinner while Fallon got Sophia ready for bed. She gave her a bath, put her in her pajamas, fed her, and sang her to sleep before placing her in the bassinet and turning on the camera so she could see Sophia on her phone. She then went downstairs and had dinner with Liam while they talked about their day and how excited they were for everyone else to meet their daughter.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Back at the agency</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam go back to their agency.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hello you two! I see you have little miss Sophia here with you, isn’t she the cutest.” Carmen greeted Fallon and Liam when they arrived at the adoption agency</p><p>“Good morning! She’s an absolute angel, we are so happy” Fallon smiled</p><p>“I’m glad, let’s get these papers signed so we can get this over with!” Carmen exclaimed as she led them to her office “We are going to handle some of the payments today. The rest of your payments will be taken care of after court. We will also discuss what will happen at court and how to go about changing her birth certificate while you’re there.” She continued as they entered her office and sat down</p><p>“Do you know when we will be able to go to court?” Liam asked</p><p>“It’s hard to know for sure. Processing the payments and the remaining paperwork usually takes a couple weeks and then you have to get the court date so it could take up to two months depending on how busy everyone is. I’d say the earliest you could get in there is three weeks from now.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s longer than I thought.” Fallon said quietly </p><p>“We know it’s not ideal but we want to make sure absolutely everything is taken care of so there are no issues that could delay you further.”</p><p>“That makes sense” Liam said</p><p>“Alright, would you like to do the money first or the signatures?” </p><p>“Let’s do the money first, then we can just get it out of the way.” Fallon decided</p><p>Carmen pulled out their file and handed them a stack of papers “I’m going to need you both to sign each of the lines as you read through these papers and then at the end there is a sheet where you need to put all of your bank account information. The amounts are listed on that page as well, you will need to sign off on each one. You will be notified be email when we pull the money so you can verify that it is the correct amount.” She explained</p><p>Fallon and Liam spent the next hour reading through everything, making sure they didn’t miss anything, and signing where they needed to sign. Fallon filled out all of their account info and when she felt satisfied they had done everything she handed the stack of papers to Carmen to check off on. </p><p>“Whoops, looks like you missed a page here” the dark haired women said, handing the paper back to them</p><p>They both read the page and signed the lines and handed it back over the desk for Carmen to keep going through. At that moment Sophia woke up and started to cry in her car seat so the social worker suggested they take a short break so they could take care of their baby and she could finish going through the papers.</p><p>The agency had a room specifically for parents and children that had changing tables, arm chairs, toys, a sink, and a microwave, everything parents need. Liam heated the bottle in the microwave while Fallon changed Sophia’s diaper. She then handed Sophia to Liam to let him feed her since she wanted to give him more time with her. </p><p>About twenty minutes later, when Sophia was done eating, they went back into Carmen’s office. </p><p>“Good timing, I am just finishing up” Carmen said when they reentered the small room “Everything seems fine so we will move on to the paperwork” </p><p>She then handed them another large stack of paper. Fallon felt like she had signed over a hundred papers by this point in the process and was wondering how many more she’d have to do. She had known there would be a lot of paperwork but hadn’t realized exactly how much. </p><p>They went through and signed every line and read every word, making sure to not skip a page this time. When they were done Carmen quickly looked over it to make sure they had signed everything and then let them leave telling them she would call if they found any issues or when it was all processed. They thanked her and gathered up their things before heading home.</p><p>“Gosh, this process is so much longer than I thought” Liam groaned “I was expecting that waiting to find a birth family to be long but I didn’t even think about after we found a baby. It’s all worth it though, I mean, look at her”</p><p>“I didn’t anticipate the long wait after either. It is worth it though. We finally get to have a baby! I’d do this all again if it meant we got to have Sophia.” </p><p>“Even the miscarriages?” Liam asked </p><p>“Yes, I know we’ve only had her for three weeks and she’s not even technically ours yet but I already can’t imagine life without her. I love her and her story so much.”</p><p>“Wow Fallon, becoming a mom has really changed you” Liam pondered “in a good way” he reinforced quickly and Fallon just smiled at him, not sure what to say back. She was just really happy with her life in that moment, she had everything she had ever dreamed of.</p>
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<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Something unexpected</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam get and unexpected surprise.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Little bit of a longer chapter, I hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We really should talk about going back to work Fal” Liam brought up while they were getting ready for bed.</p><p>It was about two weeks after they had gone to the agency and the time they had off from work was quickly coming to an end.</p><p>“I’m not ready yet, I don’t want to leave her.” Fallon complained “plus, we decided that we didn’t want to hire a nanny so one of us is going to have to stay with her”</p><p>“You have to go back at some point Fal. What if we switch off who goes to work? One week I’ll go into work and you work from home and the next week you go in and I stay home. I can start first next week to give you an extra week off” Liam suggested</p><p>“But then I have to take care of her by myself!” Fallon exclaimed</p><p>“You can do it, there are people around the house that can help out if you really need it and you could always call Blake or Alexis, or even Sam or Monica, I’m sure any of them would love to help you out. If nobody is available you can call me and I’ll leave work.”</p><p>“Hm...” Fallon pondered “I guess that could work” she nodded “could you bring her in to see me on my lunch break some days and I’ll bring her to see you?”</p><p>“Of course, that way I get to see you too. We can take it slow and see how it goes. Maybe you only go in twice on the first week or do half days to ease yourself back in. I know you’ve been nervous about going back so I’ve been trying to come up with some solutions.” Liam admitted</p><p>“Thank you babe. I love you” Fallon said as they slid into bed and she shuffled over to give him a quick kiss</p><p>“I love you too”</p><p>—————</p><p>Early the next morning Fallon woke up feeling slightly nauseous. She brushed it off and went to the bathroom to see if that would help, and it did. She went back to bed and fell asleep for a couple more hours before she’d have to get up with Sophia. </p><p>When Fallon woke up again from Sophia crying in the cot next to her she had an overwhelming feeling that she was going to throw up. She sat  up quickly and clapped her hand to her mouth before rushing out of bed and to the toilet where she emptied her stomach.</p><p>She thought it was weird that she had been sick a few weeks ago and she was sick again when she hardly ever threw up.</p><p>All of a sudden, it dawned on her, she had been feeling a little off the last couple weeks and had been overly emotional. She’d had these symptoms before. She went back to the bedroom where Sophia was still crying and woke up Liam to get her.</p><p>“Could you feed her please?” She asked when her husband opened his eyes “I’m not feeling too good”</p><p>“Yeah, sure. Are you okay?” He asked while getting out of bed to prepare a bottle</p><p>“I just have a headache” she lied</p><p>“Ok, I’ll bring her downstairs with me so you can have a little quiet time” Liam said as he picked up the infant and made his way to the door</p><p>“Thank you, I’ll come down in a little bit”</p><p>As soon as Liam was out the room and she was sure he was headed downstairs Fallon grabbed her phone off the nightstand and quickly went to her period tracking app</p><p>“Shit” she said under her breath when she realized she was late for her period by almost two weeks</p><p>Normally she would have realized if she was late or feeling different but since they had been so busy and stressed out with Sophia, she hadn’t noticed. She mind started racing and her stomach twisted at the thought that she could be pregnant.</p><p>“Maybe it’s just because I’m stressed” she said to herself “I can’t be pregnant, there’s no way.”</p><p>She figured she should take a pregnancy test just to be sure and remembered that she still had some from when she and Liam were trying to conceive. </p><p>She rushed into the en-suite and desperately searched through the drawers and cabinets to look for a test. She found a few that were different brands and ripped one open to take it. After she peed on it she brought it over to the sink and set up upside down on the counter while she washed her hands. </p><p>Fallon paced around the bathroom with her head in her hands as she waited for the five minutes to be up before she could look at the results. She tried to breath and convince herself that she was not pregnant and she was just late because she’d been stressed recently. </p><p>When five minutes had passed she had fully convinced herself that she wasn’t pregnant and that when she looked at the test it would be negative. She confidently picked up the test, turned it over, and gasped.</p><p>On the little screen, clear as day, it said the word “pregnant”</p><p>“No! No, it’s wrong” she choked out quietly as she held the test in her now shaking hands</p><p>She grabbed the other two tests she had and took them both as well, just to make sure it wasn’t a false positive but they both said pregnant too. One had two lines and the other said “pregnant 3-4” so now she had three positives from three different brands of tests.</p><p>Fallon, now panicking, sunk down to the floor and started to sob and gasp for air as she held the tests in her hands.</p><p>“Sorry to bother you but I need to change Sophia” Liam said loudly from the bedroom “Fal? Where are you?” He called and poked his head into the en-suite to see if she was in there </p><p>Fallon looked up at him with her tear stained face tried to contain herself</p><p>“Babe! What happened?!” Liam exclaimed as he rushed over to her</p><p>Sophia, sensing a shift in the atmosphere, started to cry in Liam’s arms. Liam tried to calm her down as he crouched beside his wife on the floor. Fallon held out her hand holding the pregnancy tests for him to see.</p><p>Liam looked at the three positives and sighed</p><p>“Oh...Fal. Come here” he said softly as helped her up and pulled her into his arms, with Sophia between them, and held her while she cried</p><p>“I’m scared, Liam” she finally choked out </p><p>“I know you are, we’ll call your obgyn today and see if she can see you either today or tomorrow.” </p><p>“Okay” Fallon said so quietly it was almost inaudible</p><p>“Do you know how far along you might be?” Liam asked</p><p>“One of the tests says three to four weeks” Fallon said as she separated that test from the others to show to him</p><p>“Wait, that means you got pregnant in New York” </p><p>“I would be more excited about that if I wasn’t so scared.” </p><p>“Do you want me to call Dr. Johnson now? I think her office just opened, I can see if she has an appointment”</p><p>“Yes please.” Fallon said looking up at him, still in his embrace “I can take Sophia while you’re on the phone”</p><p>Liam handed over the five week old and pulled his phone out of his pocket to call the obgyn. The young woman told him she had an opening in a few hours so he took the appointment.</p><p>“She had an opening at 11:00 so I made the appointment. Why don’t you go downstairs and try to eat something while I get Sophia ready.”</p><p>Fallon just nodded and left the room to go downstairs. Liam got Sophia changed and put her down on the bed so he could get dressed as well. Just as he was finishing up Fallon came back into the room</p><p>“Did you eat anything?” He asked her</p><p>“I had some fruit. That’s all I could get down”</p><p>“Well at least you had something. Should I call Alexis to ask if she can watch Sophia while we go to the appointment?”</p><p>“No, we can just take her. I don’t want anyone to know yet and knowing Alexis, she would figure it out”</p><p>—————</p><p>About two hours later Fallon and Liam were sitting in the waiting room of the obgyn with Sophia asleep in her car seat on the floor. Fallon’s leg was bouncing nervously as they waited for her name to be called. Liam reached over and took her hand in his to try to calm her down a bit.</p><p>“Fallon Carrington?” A nurse called and the family stood up to follow her to a room. </p><p>She had Fallon sit on the examination chair and asked the routine questions that they asked at every appointment she went to and then she drew some blood to do a pregnancy test and other bloodwork.</p><p>Around 15 minutes later Dr. Johnson came into the room</p><p>“Good morning everyone!” She said “Oh! Who is this little one?” She asked</p><p>“This is our little girl that we are adopting soon” Liam explained</p><p>“Oh, so this pregnancy must be a shock to you then” the doctor said offhandedly as she input some information into her computer </p><p>“So I am pregnant?” Fallon asked apprehensively </p><p>“Yes, you are, your bloodwork showed that you are indeed pregnant.”</p><p>“Oh god” Fallon groaned as she sat back in the chair</p><p>“There is nothing to worry about just yet. All of your hormone levels seem to be good for the stage you told us you think you are in your pregnancy. We will do a quick ultrasound today to confirm how far along you are. I know you’ve been through this before but I want to remind you that you will not see a heartbeat this early on and the baby will be little more than a dot on the screen.”</p><p>They both nodded and the young woman gathered the tools for an internal ultrasound. Fallon, knowing the drill, got up and undressed from the waist down and put on the gown before getting back up in the chair.</p><p>The ultrasound was quick and they saw the baby which would have been barely visible to someone who didn’t know what they were looking for. </p><p>“Alright! You are about four weeks along. Since you are considered high risk we will schedule bloodwork every other day for the next week or so just to make sure your hormones are where they’re meant to be and we will do weekly ultrasounds until you get to 12 weeks, just like your last pregnancies.”</p><p>“Ok, and will we schedule those appointments today?” Liam questioned </p><p>“Yes, after you are dressed, go to the front desk and the nurse there will help you schedule. Oh, and also, get yourself some good quality prenatal supplements as soon as you can and start taking them.” </p><p>“Great, thank you” Liam said as the doctor gathered her things and left the room, closing the door behind her “how are you feeling” he asked Fallon </p><p>“Scared” she whispered as she stayed seated, not making any move to get dressed</p><p>“Let’s just take it one day at a time, no expectations for good or bad, we’ll just see what happens” Liam said as he took her hands “do you need help getting dressed?”</p><p>“No” she murmured and then got up to grab her clothes</p><p>They then scheduled all of their appointments for the next 8 weeks and left the building. They drove home in silence as they processed what the weeks ahead would be like, filled with doctors appointments, court, more adoption finalization things, and the party to welcome Sophia into the family.</p>
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<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Getting a court date</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon gets more bloodwork done and they finally get their court date.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I know we discussed going back to work but I think it would be best if we both stayed off, or at least worked from home until we are sure this pregnancy is safe” Liam brought up while they were eating breakfast the next morning</p><p>“I agree, it would be hard for me to take care of Sophia by myself while you were at work and l definitely wouldn’t be able to concentrate when I went in. I know I’m going to be overthinking every symptom and pain I feel so it would be nice to have you with me”</p><p>“Then it’s settled, I’ll work from home so at least one of us is working and you can work when or if you feel like it and I can help with Sophia.”</p><p>—————</p><p>The following day they went back to the obgyn to get more bloodwork done to check Fallon’s hormones. They wouldn’t get the results until the next day so they were left anxious as they waited to see if the numbers had gone up like they were supposed to. </p><p>When they were leaving Fallon got a call from the adoption agency</p><p>“Hello?” Fallon answered</p><p>“Good morning Mrs. Ridley, I am just calling to inform you that all of your paperwork has been looked over and processed and I’m sure you saw that the money was taken out of your bank account.” A social worker said on the phone</p><p>“Oh, that’s great! Does that mean we can get a court date now?” Fallon asked</p><p>“It does! I checked their availability this morning just before calling you and they have an opening next week on Thursday at 9am. Does that work with your schedule?”</p><p>“Can I check with my husband and get back to you?” Fallon questioned </p><p>“Of course” </p><p>“Ok, I’ll call you right back” Fallon said before hanging up the phone and turning to Liam </p><p>“Can you handle court right now?” He asked, already knowing what she was going to ask from hearing her end of the conversation.</p><p>“Honestly, I just want to get it over with. She said they have an opening next Thursday at 9 and we don’t have an appointment on that day so that is a good time to do it”</p><p>“Okay, as long as you’re up for it. What about the party?” Liam asked</p><p>“I think we should still have it so people don’t start to wonder if something is wrong and start asking questions”</p><p>“Call the social worker back and tell her to book it then!” Liam said excitedly </p><p>Fallon called the woman back and told her to go ahead and book the court date. </p><p>“Great! I will call them and get that all squared away and will let you know when it is all taken care of”</p><p>“Thank you so much.” Fallon said</p><p>By this point they were driving up the driveway to their manor. Liam parked the car and walked around to get Sophia while Fallon got all of her things. </p><p>“Can you believe it, baby girl! You’re finally going to be ours for good and nobody can take you away from us!” He said before he carefully held her in front of his face to give her a big kiss</p><p>“This is all so crazy, who would have thought this is where we’d be right now.”</p><p>“Tell me about it!” Liam said while raising his eyebrows</p><p>—————</p><p> </p><p>That evening Fallon called everyone to tell them they had a court date.</p><p>“Hi Fallon” Blake said, answering the phone</p><p>“Hi! I just wanted to let you know that we have a court date! It’s next Thursday at 9 and I want to invite you and Crystal” </p><p>“Really! Oh, that’s so awesome, we’d love to come. I’ll tell Crystal when she gets out of the shower.”</p><p>“Ok, well, I just want you to be the first to know but now I’ve got other people to call. I’ll talk to you later” Fallon said</p><p>“Bye sweetheart” </p><p>Next, Fallon called Alexis and shared the good news and invited her to court too, as long as she would behave herself.</p><p>“Of course I’ll behave myself Fallon! I wouldn’t want to ruin my granddaughter’s special day! And besides, I’m past that point in my life.” </p><p>“I just wanted to make sure. I want this day to be perfect.”</p><p>“I understand, I promise I’ll be good” Alexis vowed</p><p>“Thank you”</p><p>Fallon then proceeded to call Monica and Sam to tell them that they could email out invitations for the party since they had a date now. They talked about maybe pushing the party back a bit since it would be kind of short notice but Fallon really wanted to have it after court and it just meant that there might be less people there which would be good. The people who couldn’t make it would just have to meet her another time. Monica sent out the invites while they were on the phone since she had already had everything ready to go. </p><p>She called a few more people until she was satisfied that everyone she wanted to tell had been told.</p><p>—————</p><p>Later that night Liam was in bed reading a book while Fallon was in the en-suite taking off her makeup.</p><p>“It’s kind of weird that my mom doesn’t even know that I’m going to have a daughter” Liam said from the other room</p><p>“Well, she got what she deserved, she should have controlled herself if she wanted to stay a part of your life”</p><p>“I know, but maybe I should call her just so she doesn’t find out years from now that she has a granddaughter”</p><p>“If you tell her she’s going to want to come see her and even if you say no she will show up here and find a way. I don’t want her anywhere near my daughter” Fallon said as she walked into the master bedroom to get in bed</p><p>“You don’t think it’s weird to not tell her though?”</p><p>“I can see why you think it’s weird, because you have a good heart, but I think it’s best if she doesn’t know. You said she’s out of your life for good, so let’s keep it that way.”</p><p>“Fine, for the sake of Sophia, I won’t tell her” </p><p>“Good” Fallon smiled before leaning over to kiss him “you’re making the right choice”</p>
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<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Research</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon does some research.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day Fallon got the news that her hormones had, in fact, increased like they were supposed to. It was a good sign but not reason to celebrate just yet, there was still a long way to go. She went to find Liam to tell him after she got off the phone.</p><p>“My levels increased” she said simply when she found him in the home office</p><p>“That’s great!” </p><p>“It’s exactly what happened with my last pregnancies. I looked good at first and then all of a sudden my hormones dropped, so I’m not holding my breath.”</p><p>“I know, but I think we should still be happy about the good things. That way we aren’t miserable all the time.”</p><p>“Well I have trouble focusing on the good things when so much could go wrong so fast.” She said in a low voice “Anyway, I just wanted you to know, I’ll let you get back to work now”</p><p>Liam could tell that Fallon was really stressed. She wasn’t acting like herself and that scared him. He was used to her being head strong and confident and seeing her defeated felt very off. He’d been through this with her before though and he just hoped it didn’t end the same way the past four times had.</p><p>—————</p><p>To distract herself while Sophia napped Fallon decided to do some thorough research about how she could help the pregnancy be healthy to avoid miscarriage if she could. She already knew to take it easy and to not lift heavy objects so she wanted to see what supplements she could take or food she should eat.</p><p>She found that she should take folic acid which was already in her prenatal vitamins but she decided to try to get some more supplements. She also needed to get regular exercise that wasn’t to strenuous so she planned to take Sophia on a walk every morning. It also said she should try to get good sleep which would be hard with a newborn but she would try. Maybe Liam could take over one of her shifts so she could have at least one big stretch of sleep.</p><p>Next, she wanted to look at what she should eat and what her diet should be. She found that it can help to cut dairy and gluten from your diet which would be hard for her but she would definitely do her best. She also needed to eat a well balanced diet with a lot of protein and vegetables which Liam was good about cooking anyway. </p><p>Later in the day she talked to Liam about everything she wanted to try.</p><p>“Hi. So, I looked up some stuff to help keep the pregnancy healthy.” She said as she walked into the office</p><p>“Oh yeah? What did you find?” </p><p>“I can take some supplements, I have to get easy exercise, which I’m going to get by going on a walk, and I should cut dairy and gluten out of my diet as much as I can and eat a balanced diet.” She explained </p><p>“That sounds easy enough. Do you mind if I come on the walk with you sometimes?” He asked “I could use some more fresh air”</p><p>“Sure, I don’t mind” Fallon nodded</p><p>“I’ll also look up some recipes that are dairy and gluten free. I’ll eat the same as you so it’s easier for you to stick to.”</p><p>“Thank you, I think that’ll really help me stay on track.”</p><p>Liam was very supportive of what she wanted to try and he thought it would be good for her to have something else to focus on.</p><p>—————</p><p>The next morning Fallon woke up feeling nauseous again. This was probably the part of pregnancy that she hated the most but she never went far enough to get past it. She didn’t feel like eating anything but Liam convinced her to come down to sit with him while he ate in the hopes that she would see something that she wanted.</p><p>“I can make you some bacon” he suggested</p><p>Fallon nearly gagged at the mere mention of the word</p><p>“No. Don’t say that again” she said as she tried to get herself under control</p><p>“Sorry, why don’t you look around and see if anything looks good”</p><p>She started going through the cupboards and the fridge before she saw a bunch of green grapes.</p><p>“Oh, grapes!” She exclaimed as she reached for them</p><p>She brought them over to the sink to wash them and proceeded to eat the entire bunch.</p><p>“Can you get more of these?” She asked Liam “they have to be green and hard, no softness, I like when they crunch.”</p><p>“Sure thing! We can stop by the store after we go do your bloodwork”</p><p>“Ugh, I really hate doing all this bloodwork stuff, I feel like a pincushion.” Fallon groaned</p><p>“Just think of the grapes you’ll get afterwords” Liam bribed</p><p>—————</p><p>After the appointment they went to the store and got a lot of grapes. Fallon ate almost an entire bag on the way back home. Liam could only look at his wife and chuckle to himself. If the only thing she would eat was grapes, then he would happily buy all the crunchy green grapes in the world. </p><p>The rest of the week went fairly smooth. They went to all the appointments with the obgyn and Fallon’s hormone levels kept showing that they were where they were meant to be. </p><p>At the last appointment of the week, Wednesday, they decided to switch to only doing blood tests when Fallon went in for her ultrasounds once a week instead of every other day. Dr. Johnson was happy with the progress of the pregnancy and so far, as it was looking healthier than the past ones.</p><p> In all four of Fallon’s last pregnancies she had seen a drop in hormone levels by this point but she seemed to be doing good. This was a cautious relief to both Fallon and Liam but they knew not to get too excited just yet.</p>
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<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Court</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sophia finally gets adopted!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I kind of based court on an adoption finalization that I went to but I can’t really remember the questions the judge asked so it’s a little bit vague, sorry. Hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was finally Thursday, the day they would officially call Sophia their own. They had to be at the courthouse by 9 so Fallon got up really early to make sure she could get everything done in time. She had laid out both hers and Sophia’s outfits the night before so it would be easy to get dressed. </p><p>She luckily didn’t feel sick when she woke up at 5am so she quickly got up and went to take a shower before she had to feed Sophia. When she was done she threw on a silk robe and then brushed and dried her hair. She looked down at her stomach and placed a hand over her lower belly.</p><p>“Please be good for me baby. I really want today to go smoothly” she whispered</p><p>She finished brushing her teeth and doing her skincare routine before going back into the master bedroom and out to the hallway to go to the kitchen and prepare a bottle to be ready when Sophia woke up.</p><p>When she was going back up the stairs she could hear her daughter crying in the master bedroom so she walked a little faster so the crying wouldn’t wake Liam up. She picked Sophia up from the bassinet and took her into the nursery to feed her in the rocking chair.</p><p>“Today is a very special day for you baby girl.”she whispered to the infant “I’m finally going to be your mommy”</p><p>By the time the newborn was done eating it was just about 6:00. Fallon decided to give her a bath so she would be nice and clean for her important day ahead. </p><p>She bathed her and then got her dressed in a simple white onesie so she wouldn’t ruin her dress before they left. She then walked back to the master bedroom and saw that Liam had gotten up and could hear that he was in the shower. </p><p>“When you’re done could you take Sophia down with you while you make breakfast so I can get ready?” She asked her husband while poking her head into the bathroom</p><p>“Yeah, just give me a sec”</p><p>When Liam got out of the shower he put on some pajama pants before taking Sophia with him while he made breakfast so Fallon could get ready. </p><p>Fallon carefully did her hair and makeup to match the dress she has picked out and then went downstairs to eat quickly and then rushed back up the their room to get dressed.</p><p>Shortly after, Liam came up with Sophia and gave her to Fallon so she could get the baby dressed while he got himself ready. </p><p>The dress Fallon had chosen for Sophia was while with a pale pink ribbon around the waist and tiny pink flowers embroidered on the skirt part. The top half was completely white so Fallon had decided to put a headband that had dainty pink flowers on it on Sophia’s head. </p><p>By the time everyone was ready it was just past 8 and Fallon wanted to get going. She checked her hair and makeup one last time before they headed downstairs. Liam stopped her when they got to the front door</p><p>“This is the day we’ve been waiting for” he said in a low excited tone</p><p>“Let’s do it!” Fallon said, in the same tone her husband used</p><p>Liam put his hand on Fallon’s cheek and looked deep in her eyes with a sentimental smile on his face before leaning in to kiss her deeply </p><p>“Let’s do it” he whispered back using the same words his wife had</p><p>They had arranged to meet everyone at the courthouse at 8:30 so they could take some pictures before the ceremony. </p><p>—————</p><p>When they got to the courthouse Blake, Crystal, and Alexis were already standing outside with the photographer. They took pictures of them all together, just the grandparents and baby, just the parents and baby, and then they did some individual ones with Sophia.</p><p>While Liam was taking his individual picture he lifted the 6 week old over his head and blew a raspberry against her chubby neck.</p><p>“Wait, Liam, I think she just smiled!” Fallon gasped “Do that again!” </p><p>The photographer moved so he could clearly see Sophia’s face as Liam went to repeat the action. He blew another raspberry and sure enough, the baby girl smiled and the photographer managed to catch the exact moment her lips parted.</p><p>Everyone started laughing at how cute it was and Liam kept tickling her neck, evoking a smile each time. When they were all done laughing and fawning over Sophia they went inside the courthouse and found the room they were assigned to.</p><p>They went inside and sat on the benches while they waited for the judge. Eventually, an older woman came into the room and smiled</p><p>“Oh, I just love to start my day with adoptions! It makes me so happy to see a family coming together”</p><p>The whole situation was much less formal than other times they had been to court, like when Blake had been on trial for murder. There were no jurors or spectators or security guards, just them, the judge, and a social worker.</p><p>The judge had Fallon, Liam, and Sophia come up to where the person on trial usually sits, facing the main podium while Blake, Crystal, and Alexis stayed seated on the benches. The social worker went up to sit by the judge and handed her the paperwork. </p><p>“Fallon and Liam Ridley, do you accept this child into your family?” The judge asked</p><p>“Yes ma’am” they responded together</p><p>“Do you promise to love and care for the child as if she was your own flesh and blood?”</p><p>“We do” they nodded</p><p>“Mr. Ridley, what about when she is a teenager and pushes her boundaries?” She said, a little teasingly</p><p>“Bring it on!” Liam said confidently </p><p>“And what about you Mrs. Ridley?”</p><p>“I’m ready for anything she might throw our way” Fallon smiled</p><p>The judge asked them a few more serious questions individually which they answered, and then read over the papers and signed them. The social worker brought the papers over to Fallon and Liam and they signed the papers as well. </p><p>The social worker took the papers back over to the judge who looked them over and promptly hit her gavel on the desk. </p><p>“Miss Sophia Rose is now the lawful daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ridley” she said in a loud voice with a wide smile on her face “congratulations”</p><p>Fallon and Liam smiled and stood up to hug each other tightly before turning to Fallon’s parents to hug them as well. Everyone was so happy and couldn’t stop smiling and hugging.</p><p>The social worker came over when they were settling down and instructed Fallon and Liam on where to go to file for a new birth certificate for Sophia that had their last name on it. </p><p>They all went to where she told them to go and filed for the certificate which they were informed would be mailed to them within a week. They were all still buzzing from the excitement and everything after kind of felt like a blur.</p><p>Sophia had been sleeping soundly in Liam’s arms through the whole ordeal and had no idea what had just happened, not that she would anyway seeing as she was only six weeks old.</p><p>Fallon looked at her daughter in her husbands arms and tears started to make their way down her cheeks. She moved closer to them and kissed Liam before turning her attention to Sophia</p><p>“I can’t believe you’re actually mine, baby girl. I love you so so much” she whispered before taking the infants hand and gently pressing a kiss to the tiny fingers.</p><p>“We have a daughter now.” Liam said in happy disbelief </p><p>“And I couldn’t be happier about it” Fallon smiled</p><p>Liam leaned forward to kiss his wife one more time before they rejoined the rest of the family and headed back out to the parking lot.</p>
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<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Adoption party</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam go straight from court to the party at their manor that Sam and Monica planned.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After they left the courthouse Fallon and Liam drove back to their manor where Monica and Sam had been, setting up for the party.</p><p>When they drove up their driveway they admired the big pink, white, and gold balloons that had been lined up all the way to the house.</p><p>In front of the house there was a large sign that said “Congratulations Sophia Rose Ridley!” in sparkly gold letters. There were streamers wrapped around the columns in front of the entrance and even more balloons on either side of the front door. </p><p>Liam pulled up in front of the house behind some other cars which he was assuming belonged to some of the guests. They got out of the car and Liam lifted Sophia from her car seat seeing that she was awake. </p><p>“What do you think baby girl? This is all for you!” He said, pointing to the decorations</p><p>Fallon walked up to them and hooked her arm around her husbands before they made their way to the open door of their manor. They both gasped when they stepped inside. Monica and Sam had completely outdone themselves with the decorations. </p><p>There was gold, pink, and white everywhere. Big balloons filled with confetti and glitter were tied all over the place accompanied by smaller balloons of the same colors. The banisters of the stairs were wrapped in white fairy lights and pink streamers and so were the columns in the foyer. </p><p>There was a giant stuffed polar bear in the middle of the room surrounded by gifts of varying shapes and sizes and other little stuffed animals placed carefully around the rest of the downstairs.</p><p>As Fallon took it all in she noticed that everyone who was already there was in the living room talking. They walked through and Monica saw them and waved them over</p><p>“Fallon, Liam! Welcome to the party!” She exclaimed “can I get you guys something to drink? Maybe champagne?”</p><p>Fallon glanced in Liams direction “oh, no thanks, I’m good for now” she said</p><p>“Are you sure? Fallon Carrington never refuses alcohol, are you ok?” Monica asked</p><p>“I’m fine. I just want to be sober for the party so I can remember it all” she lied</p><p>“Okay...” Monica said slowly while giving her friend a weird look “well, there’s food and drinks in the dining room if you want.”</p><p>“Thank you. Everything looks great by the way” Fallon complemented</p><p>“I’m glad you like it. The color scheme was my idea, Sam wanted to go with lavender, white, and silver but I think the gold is more classy.”</p><p>“I have to agree with you, I love the gold paired with the light pink.”</p><p>“Thanks! I should probably go welcome the guests that just arrived, I’ll see you later”</p><p>—————</p><p>The party was very low key which Fallon actually really enjoyed. She was able to talk to everyone and people got to hold Sophia which she wouldn’t have felt comfortable with if there had been a lot of guests. Liam made everyone wash their hands before they held his daughter and they weren’t allowed to walk around with her in case they tripped or something. </p><p>After a couple hours Sophia started getting fed up with being passed around to people she didn’t recognize and started to cry when she was handed to Culhane</p><p>“Oh, I’m sorry. Here, you can have her back” Culhane cringed while handing the crying baby back to Fallon </p><p>“You didn’t do anything, I think she’s just tired” Fallon reassured him</p><p>“Do you want me to take her upstairs?” Liam asked as he walked up to his wife</p><p>“No, I can take her, I need to take a break anyway.”</p><p>“Ok, I’ll come check on you in fifteen minutes”</p><p>Fallon nodded and went into the kitchen to make a bottle before going upstairs. She fed Sophia in the rocking chair while she admired her face. She just couldn’t believe that she was looking at her daughter. The day felt like it had flown by and court felt like days ago. </p><p>Sophia ended up falling asleep before she finished her bottle so Fallon just held her while she slept. </p><p>When Liam came up he walked into the nursery to find both Fallon and Sophia asleep in the rocking chair. He decided to not wake them up and went downstairs to ask if everyone would mind going home.</p><p>“Fallon is just exhausted from the excitement of today and we want to spend some time as a family” he told everyone </p><p>The guests understood and started getting ready to leave. They all congratulated him once again and exchanged hugs or handshakes.</p><p>“Do you want us to stay behind and clean everything up?” Monica asked Liam as the last of the guests departed</p><p>“That’s ok, we’ll hire someone tomorrow to take it all down.”</p><p>“Sounds good, tell Fallon I said goodbye and to call me if she needs anything.”</p><p>“Will do. Oh, and thanks for all this, it was great.”</p><p>“It was no problem” Monica smiled “see you later”</p><p>Monica and Sam were the last people to leave and Liam sighed when the house was finally quiet. He went into the kitchen and got a big glass of water to bring to Fallon and went upstairs.</p><p>He went into the master bedroom first where he placed the water on the nightstand and pulled the blankets on the bed open. He then went to the nursery where Fallon was and gently lifted Sophia out of his wife’s arms careful not to wake either of them and placed her in the crib and turned on the monitor. He then picked up Fallon and carried her into their bedroom where he placed her on the bed and removed her shoes. He contemplated whether or not he should attempt to take off her dress too but decided it would be too difficult. He pulled the covers over her and leaned down to gently place a kiss her forehead.</p><p>“Sleep well” he whispered</p><p>It was only 1:30 but he knew she needed her rest so he left the room and went to the office to get some work done.</p><p>A few hours later he heard a noise at the office door. When he turned to look he saw Fallon standing just inside the room</p><p>“Hi” Liam said softly “did you sleep okay?”</p><p>“Yeah” she nodded “thanks for taking me to bed. Did everyone go home?”</p><p>“When I came to check on you, you had fallen asleep so I sent everyone home.”</p><p>Fallon nodded “At least they got to spend a few hours here.” </p><p>“They were all very understanding. I promise” Liam said getting up from his chair and walking towards his wife. “What do you say we go get some food before the star of the day wakes up, you must be starving.”</p><p>“I am, I haven’t eaten all day”</p><p>“I’m pretty sure some of your favorites are sitting in the fridge, leftover from the party.” Liam smiled “I put them away so you could have them when you got up.”</p><p>At that, Fallon turned on her heels and hurried off to the kitchen and Liam couldn’t help but laugh.</p>
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<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Heartbeat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon has her 7 week ultrasound and they find out if their baby has a heartbeat.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As always, thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A week after the party was the appointment where they might be able to see a heartbeat for the first time since Fallon was now almost 7 weeks pregnant. She hadn’t had any bleeding or cramping and still had the occasional feeling of nausea so there was no reason to think they wouldn’t see a heartbeat. This was still their least favorite appointment though because they found out they had miscarried their last two pregnancies around 7 weeks along when there was no heartbeat.</p><p>Fallon decided it would be best to not bring Sophia so she asked Sam if he could watch her so she and Liam could go to lunch. She would have asked Alexis but she really didn’t want anyone to know she was pregnant until she was at least 12 weeks and she knew Sam wouldn’t ask any questions.</p><p>“You ready to go?” Liam asked when Fallon came downstairs </p><p>“Yes, but also no, I hate this appointment” </p><p>“I do too, but we have to do it, just breathe and try to relax, I’ll be with you the whole time holding your hand”</p><p>“Thank you” she whispered “let’s go”</p><p>First, they dropped Sophia off with Sam. He asked them where they were going and they had to lie and tell him some random restaurant. They told him went they expected to be back and he told them to have fun and not to worry about Sophia too much.</p><p>At Dr. Johnson’s office Fallon’s stomach was in knots. She was so nervous that she felt sick and when her name was called she almost threw up. Liam took her hand and helped her up so they could follow the nurse. Fallon felt that her shoes were made of lead, her feet didn’t not want to take her down that hallway but she took a deep breath and continued forward. </p><p>She answered the questions and had her blood drawn in a daze, she couldn’t even tell you what color hair the nurse had. When Dr. Johnson came in, though, she was more alert than when she was at a business deal.</p><p>“I know this appointment is a tough one for you so we will just go straight to the ultrasound to get it over with” the doctor said calmly</p><p>Fallon got undressed while the obgyn retrieved the ultrasound wand. When she sat back in the chair Liam stood next to her and squeezed her hand in his. They both looked at the screen intently, waiting for the little blip that was their baby’s heart to appear. </p><p>Suddenly, there it was, the barely noticeable flicker of a heartbeat was on the screen and Fallon gasped in relief</p><p>“We have a heartbeat!” Dr. Johnson said happily “we might be able to hear it if I can position the wand right” she continued as she moved the wand a little bit and pressed a button on the machine </p><p>A dull swooshing sound filled the room as the baby’s heartbeat was picked up. Liam brought Fallon’s hand up to his mouth and pressed a long kiss to her fingers as he listened.</p><p>They had only gotten to hear one of their babies heartbeats, the first one. They had lost that pregnancy a week after their first ultrasound. The second pregnancy had ended before they had gotten a chance to even have their first ultrasound and the last two they found out had miscarried at this appointment.</p><p>Even though they knew there was still a big chance that this pregnancy could end it was a good sign that the baby was alive and doing well so far.</p><p>“The baby is also measuring bigger than last time so he or she is growing which is very good news.” Dr. Johnson informed them “we will call you about your bloodwork results tomorrow but until then you can rest easy knowing your baby is safe.”</p><p>“Thank you” Fallon managed to breath out. She was so relieved that the appointment had gone well.</p><p>The young woman cleaned up and left the room so Fallon could get dressed. As soon as the door was closed Liam laughed out loud in relief and wrapped Fallon in a tight embrace. </p><p>After they left the office they decided to stop for a quick lunch so they called Sam and asked if he could watch her for another hour or so and he said he was happy to. </p><p>Fallon was really craving seafood so they went to the capital grille. They ate fairly quickly so they wouldn’t keep Sam waiting but they thoroughly enjoyed their food.</p><p>After picking up Sophia they went home and just relaxed for the rest of the day. Liam got some work done and Fallon played with Sophia as much as the baby girl was able to, which was basically just holding stuff in front of her face for her to look at, but they both still enjoyed it. </p><p>—————</p><p>The next day Fallon got the call about her blood results</p><p>“Good morning, is this Mrs. Ridley?” The nurse on the phone asked</p><p>“This is she”</p><p>“We just got your bloodwork results back and your hormones are not quite where we would like them to be. It’s not enough to worry about but Dr. Johnson would like to see you tomorrow to run the test again just to be sure.”</p><p>“Okay” Fallon said quietly</p><p>“She doesn’t have any availabilities during her work day tomorrow but she said she’s willing to stay after hours to see you, so just after 5:00. Does that work?” The nurse asked</p><p>“Yeah that’s fine” Fallon said simply</p><p>“Great, I will let her know” </p><p>“Thank you.” </p><p>When she got off the phone the sat on the bed and put her head in her hands. This is exactly what she was worried about. At least her levels hadn’t dropped and she hadn’t had any signs that she was miscarrying. She took a deep breath and got up to go tell Liam. </p><p>“Dr. Johnson wants to see me tomorrow because my hormone levels aren’t as high as they’re supposed to be. She said it’s nothing to worry about, they just want to make sure.” She told him</p><p>“If they say we shouldn’t worry, then let’s try to not to. They are the professionals and they know what they’re talking about. What time do they want you to go in?” </p><p>“She can’t see me during the day so she asked if we could come around 5, after the office is closed. I told them we could”</p><p>“I’ll get everything for work done before then so I can go with you.”</p><p>Fallon just nodded and then went to go check on Sophia who would be waking up soon to eat.</p><p>—————</p><p>Fallon went to get her blood test done the following day and it came back perfectly normal. The rest of the week went on without much excitement. Liam got back into the routine of working and Fallon would often join him in the office to work while Sophia was napping. </p><p>They went over to Carrington manor for dinner one evening and had a really nice evening with Blake, Crystal, Adam, And Kirby. The exhaustion of being pregnant along with caring for new baby was wearing on Fallon though, so they didn’t end up staying long.</p><p>“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dessert?” Crystal asked</p><p>“Yeah, we should probably get Sophia home and put to bed” Liam answered </p><p>“She seems fine to me, can’t she sleep in the car seat” Blake commented</p><p>Fallon looked at Liam with desperate pleading eyes, she was so tired and just wanted to go home and get underneath their big comforter.</p><p>“We try not to let her sleep in the car seat for too long. We’ll just let ourselves out, enjoy the rest of your night” Liam said before anybody else could try to stop them from leaving</p><p>They quickly left and got into the car hoping that nobody found that too weird. </p><p>“Thank you for coming up with that to get us out of there, I don’t think I could of stayed awake for one minute more.” Fallon said as soon as she buckled herself.</p><p>“Just wait until they find out in a couple months why we left. Hopefully they’ll understand then.” </p><p>“Oh yeah, it’ll be funny to see their reactions when we tell them.”</p><p>They drove home and Fallon  ended up falling asleep during the fifteen minute drive. Liam woke her up when they arrived so she could go inside. He would have carried her but he had to get Sophia out of the car and put her to bed. Fallon immediately went upstairs while Liam put Sophia down.</p>
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<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Last visit</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon had another doctors appointment and they go the the adoption agency one last time.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope everyone had or has a good day wherever  you are!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The day after their dinner at Carrington manor Fallon had her 8 week ultrasound and bloodwork. Dr. Johnson had decided that if Fallon’s hormone levels looked good at this appointment they would stop the blood tests and just check the baby with the weekly ultrasounds.</p><p>“Baby is looking good in there.” Dr. Johnson observed. “They are measuring the right size and look at that, we still have a heartbeat!”</p><p>Fallon and Liam were looking intently at the screen and they could see that their baby was bigger and the heartbeat looked stronger.</p><p>“Can we hear it again?” Fallon asked</p><p>“Sure we can!” The young woman said as she pushed the button “there we go, nice and strong” she commented when the steady whooshing sound filled the room </p><p>“I could listen to this all day” Fallon smiled </p><p>“If you want, I can make a recording of it to send to you”</p><p>“Can you?! Oh, that would be great!” Liam exclaimed </p><p>The doctor nodded and fiddled with the machine a bit to make the recording and said she would send it to them over email when it was ready. She also reminded them that they would get the bloodwork results the following day like they normally did. After they were done they made their appointment for an ultrasound the following week and left.</p><p>—————</p><p>Fallon’s bloodwork came back normal so they wouldn’t have to do it anymore which was good because she wouldn’t have to be poked every other day but bad because she liked knowing for sure that the baby was ok since she couldn’t always tell in an ultrasound.</p><p>They did have some distraction though, to get them through their days, because they had to go visit with Carmen one last time to do the final payments. They were going to get a big file of copies of all the paperwork they had done so they would have record of it all. When they arrived Fallon couldn’t stop smiling, this was the absolute final step of the process. </p><p>“Good morning!” Carmen said enthusiastically when she may them in the lobby “this is my favorite meeting, it’s what makes my job so worth it.”</p><p>“I think this is also my favorite meeting” Fallon agreed “besides court, obviously”</p><p>“Well then, I’ve just got a few papers for you to sign today and then you can be done with us for good”</p><p>“Lead the way!” Liam said happily</p><p>They signed the last few papers and got their binder full of copies which was bigger than they had both imagined it would be.</p><p>“We signed all of these?!” Fallon asked in amazement</p><p>“No, about half of them are Hannah and James’s, that way you can see all the background information on Sophia like how the pregnancy went, her racial background, hereditary things, stuff like that. It’s all in one place so you know where everything is”</p><p>“Oh ok, that makes sense, I was shocked at how big it was, I didn’t remember signing so many papers” Fallon chuckled</p><p>They said their final goodbyes and carmen wished them the best of luck with Sophia. Fallon carried Sophia while Liam held the binder as they went out to the car.</p><p>“I can’t believe it’s all finally over!” Liam grinned</p><p>“I know! That was our last visit ever. How long did it take in total? A year and a half?”</p><p>“Yeah, just about a year and a half.” Liam confirmed “that’s crazy” he whispered to himself</p><p>—————</p><p>“So...I was thinking that now Sophia is two months old we should start swim lessons.” Liam said tentatively the next morning “I know we have the gate around the pool but it would make me feel better if she could swim.”</p><p>“Swim lessons at 2 months old? You’re insane, she’s basically still a newborn!”</p><p>“It’s good to start when they are really young because by the time they’re a year old they know how to turn on their backs to breathe if they happen to fall in the pool.” Liam explained</p><p>“You’re not taking her to some germ filled public pool, no way.” Fallon shook her head</p><p>“I was thinking we could hire a private instructor to come to the house and teach her in our pool.” </p><p>“Won’t she get cold out there?” Fallon asked</p><p>“We could turn the heat in the pool up and only do it during the warmer. I just want her to be comfortable and safe in the water Fal, that’s all”</p><p>“I guess it couldn’t hurt. You’re in charge of being there during her lessons though, I am not sitting out in the sun for hours, oh, and speaking of, you better put so much sunscreen on her that she’s white.”</p><p>“I will make sure she is properly protected from the sun, don’t you worry. The weather is starting to warm up so I’ll call and see if I can find someone before they’re all booked.”</p><p>Liam called a private swim company later that afternoon and found an instructor who decided that they should start lessons when Sophia was three months old. That way, she was a little older, the weather would be warmer, and, Liam didn’t mention to her, but Fallon would be 12 weeks pregnant which is when the pregnancy would be considered safer. </p><p>“We are going to start swim lessons when Sophia is three months” Liam told Fallon when he got off the phone </p><p>“Oh good, it makes me feel better that she’ll be older when she starts.”</p><p>“I also thought that it would be good to start after you get to 12 weeks since most issues with pregnancy happen before then.”</p><p>“Oh yeah, good thinking, we’ll be under way less stress.”</p><p>“My thoughts exactly” Liam nodded</p>
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<a name="section0029"><h2>29. A scare</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon has a little scare with the pregnancy.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One night, Fallon was having a relaxing evening but when she went to the bathroom before bed she noticed some blood in her underwear.</p><p>“Liam!” She yelled</p><p>Liam was feeding Sophia in the nursery down the hall when he heard his wife call his name sounding panicked. He put the infant in her crib and rushed to find his wife.</p><p>“What babe! Where are you!” He said loudly when he ran into the master bedroom</p><p>“In here” Fallon said, and Liam could tell that she was crying</p><p>He quickly went into the en-suite and saw Fallon sitting on the toilet</p><p>“Look” she whispered through her tears, pointing to the blood</p><p>“Oh no. I’m going to call Dr. Johnson” Liam said, rushing back into the bedroom to grab his phone off the bed as he listened to Fallon sobbing in the other room.</p><p>“Hi Dr. Johnson, sorry to call you this late, but Fallon has just had some spotting and I was wondering if we could see you to make sure the baby is safe.” Liam pleaded with the doctor</p><p>“My office is closed, but how about I come to your house to check her out, I have a Doppler I can check the baby’s heartbeat with.”</p><p>“That would be great, you remember our address right?”</p><p>“Yes, I do. I’ll see you soon” the young woman said before hanging up</p><p>Liam went back into the bathroom and crouched in front of Fallon, taking both her hands in his.</p><p>“Dr. Johnson is going to come to the house to check on the baby. She’ll be here soon so we should get you on the bed”</p><p>“I can’t handle another miscarriage Liam” Fallon sobbed</p><p>“We don’t know that you are miscarrying yet, it could be nothing, it probably is nothing” Liam reassured her before helping her up </p><p>They walked together to the bedroom and Liam pulled the covers to the side so Fallon could lay down. He leaned down and pressed a long kiss between her eyes before wiping her tears away with his thumb </p><p>“Everything will be ok” he promised while looking deep into her eyes “I love you”</p><p>“I love you too” Fallon murmured.</p><p>Just then, Liam heard a car drive up outside so he went to go get the door. He led Dr. Johnson upstairs and they went into the master bedroom where Fallon was waiting.</p><p>“I hear you’re having some bleeding” the doctor said when she was standing next to Fallon</p><p>“Just a little bit” Fallon nodded</p><p>“Ok, well I won’t waste your time, I know you’re anxious, let’s see if we can find baby’s heartbeat.”</p><p>She pulled Fallon’s shirt up and squeezed some gel on the lower part of her stomach before pressing the doppler to her skin. </p><p>She moved the instrument around for a few tense minutes before they heard the faint sound of a heartbeat. Fallon panicked at the fact that it was so quiet, thinking that her baby was fading, but Dr. Johnson assured her that nothing was wrong.</p><p>“You’re baby is still very small so it is hard to pick up a heartbeat externally. Baby’s heart sounds strong and steady and I would say that you probably have nothing to worry about. It is normal to experience some bleeding during pregnancy. Just to be sure though, I am just going to do a few other tests.”</p><p>The young woman checked Fallon’s cervix for dilation, which there wasn’t any, and looked at a few other things.</p><p>“You and baby are looking perfectly healthy, but I am glad you called me, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Just to be on the safe side, why don’t you come in to my office tomorrow around noon and we can do an ultrasound.”</p><p>“Thank god” Fallon breathed “thank you so much for coming here, I’m sorry we disturbed your evening. We’ll be at your office tomorrow.”</p><p>“Don’t you worry about me, this is my job. Don’t be afraid to call me in the future if you are concerned about something.” The doctor reassured them</p><p>“Thank you” Liam said “let me show you out, we don’t want to keep you any longer”</p><p>When Liam came back upstairs he went to get Sophia since he had left her in the crib. She still slept in their room at night even though she only woke up once or twice for a bottle, it gave them peace of mind to have her close.</p><p>He then went beck into the master bedroom and put the sleeping baby in the cot before joining Fallon in their bed.</p><p>“I’m so glad Dr. Johnson was able to come see us.” Fallon said</p><p>“Me too, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep if she hadn’t, we probably would have ended up in the hospital just to get an ultrasound to make sure.”</p><p>“I know, before you called her I was mentally preparing to go to the hospital” Fallon admitted</p><p>“Well you can sleep soundly now knowing that the baby is doing ok.”</p><p>“Or at least as soundly as I can with a baby in the room” Fallon joked</p><p>“Goodnight babe.” Liam said as he chuckled at her comment</p><p>“Night. I love you so so much.”</p><p>“I love you more” Liam said, snuggling up to his wife in the middle of the bed and sighing happily. </p><p>—————</p><p>After a night of uneasy sleep Fallon and Liam got up and lazily got ready to go to their appointment with Dr. Johnson to confirm their baby was okay. They left Sophia with Sam while they went to the clinic. </p><p>“Hello! Let’s check on this little troublemaker” Dr. Johnson greeted them when she entered their little room”</p><p>“Hi, thank you again for seeing us today” Liam said</p><p>“Oh it really is no problem at all, I’m happy to see you” the young woman said cheerily</p><p>She turned on the ultrasound screen and they were met with an image of their little baby moving around, a sight that Fallon and Liam were very relieved to see. She also checked the heartbeat, which was as strong as it always was, and let the parents listen to it to reassure them that everything was okay.</p><p>“Baby is doing just fine. He or she is happy and healthy in there.” The doctor smiled</p><p>“That is such a relief, we couldn’t have hoped for better news” Fallon sighed</p><p>“Well then, I’ll let you get dressed and I’ll see you next week!” Dr. Johnson said as she gathered her things and left the room.</p><p>Fallon proceeded to get dressed and they left the office happier than they had in a while. After their scare last night, this appointment absolutely made their day.</p>
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<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Swim lesson</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon has some appointments, Sophia has her first swim lesson, and they figure out how they want to tell people Fallon is pregnant.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry this chapter is kinda all over the place</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fallon was now 11 weeks pregnant. Her ultrasounds were showing that the baby was growing and there was a heartbeat at every appointment. She even had the tiniest little bump now which she absolutely loved, even though you could barely tell it was there. Since she had almost made it to 12 weeks they were starting to think about how they were going to tell everyone. </p><p>“What if we give close family and friends gifts with onesies in them” Liam suggested</p><p>“Maybe...” Fallon pondered “or we could buy a onesie for Sophia that says big sister on it and have her wear it when we visit people.” </p><p>“That would be cute” </p><p>“What about if we do a mixture of things. Like, we do the big sister onesie for Blake and Crystal and Alexis and we do the gifts for everyone else. Whoever we can’t see or don’t see we can just FaceTime and show them one of the ultrasound pictures.” Fallon suggested</p><p>“Yeah, I think that’s a great plan” Liam agreed</p><p>“I’ll see if I can get the stuff we need sometime this week, I need to go get Sophia some swimsuits and pool diapers anyway since she starts swim next week”</p><p>“Oh yeah! I’m excited to see how she’ll react to the water”</p><p>“What if she absolutely hates it?” Fallon asked</p><p>“We’ll see what happens and if she hates it we can wait until she’s a bit older to try again” </p><p>—————</p><p>“I thought you weren’t going to watch the swim lessons” Liam teased when Fallon came to sit on one of the lounge chairs by the pool as Liam was getting Sophia ready for her swim lesson</p><p>“I want to watch the first one, to make sure she’s in safe hands” Fallon said defensively </p><p>It was Sophia’s first swim lesson and the little family was waiting outside for the instructor to arrive. The woman Liam had chosen had gone through a thorough background check to make sure their daughter would be safe in the pool with her.</p><p>Fallon had put Sophia in a light blue swimsuit with white dots that was long sleeved and had a matching plain white hat. The rest of her skin that was showing had been thoroughly lathered in sunscreen.</p><p>“She should be here any minute, I told her to come around the back” Liam said, looking toward the side of the large house.</p><p>Just then, a middle aged brunette woman came through the gate and waved. Fallon and Liam got up as she got closer to them.</p><p>“Hello! My name is Jenny, and this must be little Sophia!” She introduced as she gave the baby’s belly a little tickle causing her to smile and coo.</p><p>“Good afternoon, I’m Liam and this is my wife Fallon.” Liam said, shaking her hand</p><p>“Nice to meet you both. I like to start my lessons by getting to know the babies first so they are comfortable going with me into the water. Do you have somewhere we could sit and get to know each other for a little while?” She asked</p><p>“Of course, we can sit over here on these chairs in the shade.” Fallon said, pointing to the chairs she was referencing </p><p>Jenny spent the first half of the lesson getting to know Sophia. She talked to her, held her, and showed her some toys. By the time the 30 minutes was up Sophia was in total awe of the woman. It was like someone had cast a spell on her making her irresistible to the three month old.</p><p>The rest of the lesson was just getting Sophia used to the pool. The instructor would dip her legs in and then bring her back out, putting her little body further in the water each time until eventually she made it in up to her shoulders.</p><p>Sophia loved it, as far as they could tell. She kicked her feet in the water and smiled wide when she was lifted in the air.</p><p>“I’m glad she doesn’t hate water” Liam smiled as he watched his baby girl “the way she screamed during her first few baths had me worried”</p><p>“I think in a couple years you’ll finally have yourself a little swimming buddy!” </p><p>“I hope so, that would be so much fun!” Liam laughed</p><p>They had scheduled the the lesson for right before Sophia’s second nap so she could sleep when she was done, and by the time the lesson was over she was getting cranky. She was tired, hungry, and just wanted to get back to her mom. Every time she caught a glimpse of Fallon she would start to whine and push away from Jenny in an effort to get over to her.</p><p>The instructor got out of the pool and handed Sophia off to Fallon while they arranged for her to come twice a week for the rest of the summer since the first lesson had gone so well. </p><p>“Let’s get you cleaned and fed shall we?” Fallon said to Sophia once they were back inside. </p><p>She went upstairs and gave the baby girl a quick bath to rinse off the chlorine and then fed her a bottle before putting her in the crib to sleep. A few weeks ago they had transitioned to having Sophia sleep in the nursery for her naps and in their room at night. They were hoping to transition her fully to the nursery in the next couple of weeks when she would only wake up once a night to eat. </p><p>—————</p><p>A couple days later Fallon had her 12 week ultrasound and it was finally able to be an external one since the baby was now big enough to see from the outside. </p><p>The appointment went well and Dr. Johnson was confident that this would be a healthy pregnancy. Fallon was so incredibly relieved and happy that she made it to 12 weeks. It was a huge milestone for her and she was finally in the second trimester, a point she had never gotten to in her previous pregnancies. </p><p>They got to see the baby’s little arms and legs and it actually looked like a baby now which was really fun to see. Dr. Johnson was comfortable treating the pregnancy as a normal healthy one with just a few extra doctors visits, so Fallon didn’t need to go in for weekly ultrasounds unless there was some sort of problem.</p><p>—————</p><p>“I think I want to start going into work” Fallon brought up that evening when they were getting Sophia ready for bed</p><p>“Really?! That’s great!” </p><p>“I won’t go full time yet, but I’m going crazy being stuck at home all the time, I need some normalcy back in my life.”</p><p>“I fully support your decision. I can keep working from home and take care of Sophia for the first few weeks you go in so you can be sure she’s well cared for.”</p><p>“That would be great, I think I’ll start next week, if that’s good with you”</p><p>“That is perfectly fine with me, I’m just glad you want to get back to your normal life.”</p><p>“Well, it’s also because I’m going to have to take more time off when this baby comes so I feel like I need to get some stuff squared before then.” Fallon confessed</p><p>“God, I don’t know how we are going to handle two babies, I feel like I’m just now getting used to having one.” Liam shook his head and chuckled</p><p>“I know, maybe we will have to hire a nanny after all so we can actually work when they’re a little older.”</p><p>“You said you didn’t want a nanny” </p><p>“I’m rethinking my decision after seeing what life is like with one baby and imagining having two, I’m thinking it will be hard to not have some help.” Fallon admitted</p><p>“We can see how we feel after this baby is born, how about that. We’ll try to handle both, and if it doesn’t work out we can talk about getting help. Does that sound good?” Liam asked</p><p>“It does, I do want to at least try, I would never forgive myself if I didn’t”</p><p>“Sounds like a plan!”</p>
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<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Telling family</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam tell their family that they’re pregnant</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one is a little short, I’ve been very busy lately. I hope you like it though!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We’re leaving at 4 right?” Liam asked Fallon as they were getting ready to go over to Carrington manor for dinner.</p><p>“Between 4 and 4:30, but ideally closer to 4.”</p><p>“Ok, well I’m basically ready so do you want me to get Sophia dressed?”</p><p>“That would be great, her outfit is on the changing table”</p><p>Liam picked up the 3 month old from the baby swing and brought her into the nursery where Fallon had laid out the outfit she wanted her daughter to wear.</p><p>“Let’s see what we have here, your big sister onesie, obviously, a little skirt, a pair of socks, and a headband. Your mommy always chooses the cutest outfits for you doesn’t she” Liam said to Sophia as he looked over the outfit pieces</p><p>He got her dressed and went back into the master bedroom where Fallon was putting on her jewelry, the final touch to her outfit. She turned around when she heard Liam enter to see how Sophia looked</p><p>“Let me see you baby girl!” </p><p>Liam held the infant out in front of him so Fallon could see the outfit she had picked</p><p>“Perfect! Oh you look so cute!” She said in a high pitched voice to get a reaction from Sophia, which she did. “Let me just get my purse and the diaper bag and then we are ready to go” she said to Liam “why don’t you go down and put her in the car, I’ll be out in a sec”</p><p>When Fallon was ready she went downstairs and through the front door to the car Liam had pulled out front, and got in. </p><p>When they got to the manor Liam made sure to hold Sophia’s front to his chest so the words “big sister” couldn’t be seen. They knew Blake would want to hold his granddaughter as soon as they arrived so that was when they were going to tell them that Fallon was pregnant.</p><p>“Let me see my baby girl!” Blake exclaimed when the family walked inside</p><p>Liam looked quickly at his wife beside him and she gave him an almost unnoticeable nod before he held Sophia strait out in front of him like he had done earlier to Fallon </p><p>Blake didn’t notice anything at first and just put his arms out to take the baby.</p><p>“Wait a minute...big sister, she’s not a big sister.” He said with a confused look on his face “unless...” he continued, looking at Fallon </p><p>“I’m pregnant” Fallon smiled </p><p>“Oh my god! How far along are you?” Crystal asked excitedly</p><p>“12 weeks. We wanted to wait until the second trimester to tell everyone” </p><p>“Wow! Two grand babies in the same year?!” Blake exclaimed</p><p>“Baby number two wasn’t exactly planned, we never intended to have kids so close together but we’ve gotten used to the idea, it might be nice for them to have someone to play with that’s their own age.”</p><p>“Well, you know we’re always around to help if you need it.” Crystal reassured them</p><p>“Good, because we are going to need all the help we can get” Liam chuckled </p><p>“Have you told anyone else yet?” Blake questioned</p><p>“Nope. You guys are the first to know” Fallon said</p><p>“I’m so happy for you sweetheart” Blake smiled and went to give his daughter a hug.</p><p>At dinner they talked about Fallon’s symptoms and the cravings she was having, Crystal wanted to know it all. It was nice for Fallon to have a woman she could talk to about all of the weird pregnancy things she was experiencing since she’d been too busy to hang out with Monica.</p><p>—————</p><p>The next day they had invited Alexis over for lunch so they could tell her. Liam prepared the food and Fallon got Sophia ready in the same outfit as the day before, only this time, she put a little sweater over the onesie that she was going to ask Alexis to take off.</p><p>When the older woman arrived they all sat in the living room and caught up. Alexis wanted to know all of the milestones Sophia was hitting since she had never bothered to pay attention to her kids when they were babies.</p><p>“Hey mom” Fallon said to get Alexis’s attention “it’s getting kind of warm in here, do you think you could take off Sophia’s sweater?”</p><p>Alexis, who was holding the baby on her lap, unbuttoned the front of the fabric and pulled it down Sophia’s arms. She noticed the writing on the onesie right away</p><p>“No your not!” She exclaimed </p><p>“I am” Fallon nodded</p><p>“You’re pregnant?!” Alexis asked just to double check they were talking about the same thing</p><p>“12 weeks”</p><p>“That’s awesome Fallon! I’m so happy for you two.” Alexis grinned</p><p>“Thank you” Liam said “we might need your help once the baby is here since we’ll have 2 kids under two.”</p><p>“I’d be happy to help. Hey, maybe I can be your nanny! Then I could spend time with my grandchildren and you guys could go to work without having to worry about whose watching them”</p><p>“Let’s just see what happens when this baby is here, I’m not planning anything yet.” Fallon said</p><p>“Sounds good to me. Oh I can’t wait, two grand babies!” Alexis said excitedly</p><p>—————</p><p>Throughout the week Fallon and Liam told all of their friends by giving them a small gift box that had a copy of one of Fallon’s ultrasound pictures and a pair of tiny baby shoes. Everybody was so excited but equally shocked that they were already having another one.</p><p>The number of people they had told about their miscarriages was very small, basically only Fallon’s parents, so people thought they had planned the pregnancy even though they were adopting Sophia.</p><p>They didn’t want to explain the whole story so they just said it was an accident, which it was, but they didn’t need to know every detail.</p>
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<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Work</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon goes to work for the first time since having sophia</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was now a week later and Fallon was getting ready to leave for her first day back at work. They had spent the past week preparing for Liam to care for Sophia by himself. They told Blake and Alexis that they might get a call to come help out and Fallon made sure to let people at work know that it was possible she would have to leave for the day on short notice.</p><p>“You’re going to come visit me for lunch, right?” Fallon asked “ because I don’t know if I can stand being away from this munchkin all day” she continued in a higher voice while playing with Sophia’s feet gently.</p><p>“Yes, I’ll be there around noon and then we wan walk to the restaurant down the street from your office”</p><p>“Sounds good, see you then” Fallon said, giving both Liam and Sophia quick kisses before heading out the door</p><p>“Good luck” Liam yelled after her “Ok baby, it’s just you and me now. Are you going to be good for me?” Liam said, looking down at the baby in his arms as soon as the door closed behind Fallon “what should we do to kill time? We could do some tummy time, even though you hate it.” </p><p>Liam brought Sophia into the living room, where they had accumulated a fair amount of baby things, and pulled out the blanket and toys they used for tummy time</p><p>“We really need to turn one of the downstairs bedrooms into a playroom, especially since there are going to be two babies in this house soon.” He said kind of to himself </p><p>He put Sophia on her belly on the blanket and laid down facing her on his stomach so they could look at each other. He held different toys up for her to see so she could practice lifting her head, which she was starting to get pretty good at. </p><p>They did tummy time for about 20 minutes before Sophia started getting frustrated. When she got mad enough she could roll over from her belly to her back but she hadn’t figured it out when she was calm yet. Liam looked quickly at his watch to check the time and saw that it was time for Sophia to eat</p><p>“Oh, You’re probably hungry. Let’s go get you a bottle.”</p><p>He picked her up and walked to the kitchen to prepare a bottle while Sophia sat in a baby swing crying</p><p>“I know, I know. It’s almost ready, I’d move faster if I could.” He spoke, more to calm himself rather than the crying baby</p><p>“Ok, I’m done, come here” he said softly to the baby while picking her up and pushing the bottle gently into her mouth.</p><p>Sophia accepted the rubber nipple quickly and calmed down as she started to eat. Liam sighed when she was finally quiet and pulled out a dining chair to sit in while Sophia ate. When she was done, Liam held her over his shoulder and burped her. He then went upstairs and put Sophia down for her morning nap so he could get ready for the day. He showered and got dressed and had some time to himself before Sophia woke up and he had to leave so he decided to get some work done in his free time.</p><p>—————</p><p>While Fallon was at work, she was having a really hard time getting anything done. She was bombarded with stuff to do as soon as she had walked in the door but had only managed to check off two things in the three hours she had been there. Her mind kept drifting off, thinking about what Liam and Sophia were up to and worried she might be missing something cute.</p><p>She sighed heavily and looked back down at the papers scattered all over her desk, reaching for one of them to see what she had to do next. </p><p>“Just a few more hours until I’ll see her” she spoke to herself as she tried to focus again</p><p>As the clock on her desk ticked closer to 12:00 she found it increasingly difficult to work on the report she was doing. Her eyes kept farting to the time to see how much longer she had to wait until she saw her daughter again. She was lost in thought when Liam finally arrived with Sophia. </p><p>“Knock knock” Liam said quietly as he entered his wife’s office</p><p>“Hi!” Fallon exclaimed when she saw Liam enter the room with Sophia in a stroller</p><p>“Are you about ready to go?” </p><p>“Yep, let me just save this...ok, I’m ready!” Fallon said and started to walk over towards Liam and her daughter “hi baby girl, I hope you’ve been good today, I missed you so much” she said while leaning over the stroller to see Sophia “I haven’t been able to concentrate all day, I’ve just been thinking about you and daddy at home.”</p><p>“Hopefully you’ll get used to it soon enough”</p><p>“Other parents do it somehow, so I’ll be able to too.” Fallon shrugged as she grabbed her coat and they walked to the elevator</p><p>They walked over to the restaurant nearby and talked for the hour that Fallon had off for lunch. When they were done Liam walked her back to her office and then went back home.</p><p>—————</p><p>Fallon ended up getting back from work later than she was intending to but since she had been gone for so long there was a lot of work she had to catch up on. She was still able to get home in time to put Sophia to bed though, which is something they promised they would always do no matter how hectic work was.</p><p>She loved their little bedtime routine. Liam would feed Sophia while Fallon filled the baby bath and got her pajamas ready. Liam would then bring Sophia into the bathroom when she was done eating and Fallon would bathe her and bring her to the changing table to put lotion all over her body and put on a fresh diaper and pajamas. She would then sit in the rocking chair and sing quietly until the baby girl fell asleep and would bring her to the cot in the master bedroom since she still slept there with them. </p><p>This particular night was no different, except for the fact that Fallon had been away from her baby all day so she wanted to spent some time with her. They did their normal routine but instead of putting Sophia in the cot, Fallon brought her into bed with her to cuddle for a little while. Liam had gone to the home office to work a little bit since he hadn’t had much time during the day so it was just her and Sophia.</p><p>Fallon laid down on her side and put Sophia in the middle of the bed facing her. She gently rubbed her little cheek with her fingers while she sang softly, looking at her daughter that she had missed so much. </p><p>Sophia quickly fell asleep but Fallon continued looking at her and singing. She really enjoyed these quiet moments that she got with her baby, they were really special to her. </p><p>Later, when Liam came to bed around midnight he found them both asleep in the bed. He wasn’t sure if he should move Sophia since they didn’t really want her in bed with them but decided to leave her there. He got in bed slowly and leaned over to kiss each of his girls on their heads before settling into the sheets.</p>
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<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Giggles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sophia laughed for the first time and Fallon experiences some pregnancy things.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One afternoon after work Fallon was sitting on the couch in the living room with Sophia. She was leaning back on the pillows with her knees drawn up and Sophia was sitting over her hips leaning back on Fallon’s legs so they were facing each other. </p><p>Fallon was just quietly playing with her daughter, showing her different toys and seeing if she would reach out to grab them. When Sophia got tired of that Fallon decided to play peek a boo with her since they had never really done it. </p><p>She hid her face behind her hands and opened them and gently said “boo”. It startled the little girl at first but then she smiled so Fallon did it again.</p><p>This time Sophia let out a little giggle making Fallon gasp. She popped out from behind her hands again and the 3 month old giggled a little louder. </p><p>“Liam!” Fallon yelled “Liam, she’s laughing, come quick!” </p><p>Liam, hearing the yell from where he was upstairs but not making out the words, thought there was something wrong and went running down the stairs</p><p>“What’s the matter!” He said worriedly when he reached his wife and daughter.</p><p>“Nothing. She’s laughing, look!” </p><p>Fallon did peek a boo to Sophia and once again, the baby laughed. Each time, her little giggle got stronger and sounded more like a laugh.</p><p>“Wait, keep doing that. I gotta get a video of this” Liam said while grabbing his phone from his pocket. </p><p>Fallon did it a few more times and Liam got it on video for documentation.</p><p>“Will you sent that to me? I want to send it to Blake and Alexis.” Fallon asked</p><p>Liam nodded and sent the video to his wife. Fallon tried to got the baby girl to laugh one more time but Sophia was over it, she wanted to move onto something else.</p><p>“We have to find out other things that you think are funny now, baby, I want to hear you laugh more” Fallon said while playing with Sophia’s little fingers</p><p>—————</p><p>Later that that night, while lying in bed, Fallon was very uncomfortable.</p><p>“Ugh! Liam, my boobs hurt” Fallon complained after having tried to fall asleep for what seemed like forever</p><p>“What do you want me to do about it” Liam murmured with his face shoved in his pillow.</p><p>“I don’t know” she whined “I can’t fall asleep”</p><p>Liam lifted his head to look at his wife</p><p>“Do you want me to massage them?” He asked jokingly</p><p>“If you even put one finger anywhere near them” Fallon warned</p><p>“Fine, I’m sorry. What about ice packs, I can go get some from the freezer.”</p><p>“Can you, please?”</p><p>“Yeah, I’ll be right back.” Lima said before tossing the covers off himself and getting out of bed.</p><p>Sophia was now fully transitioned to her nursery since she was sleeping for 6 hour stretches most nights so they didn’t have to worry about being quiet. They had a monitor on her that checked her heart rate and breathing and they had a camera that they could check on their phones so they felt pretty comfortable with her in there. </p><p>Fallon checked on her daughter through the video feed while she was waiting for Liam and saw that she was sleeping on her back with her arms over her head. She would never get tired of watching her baby sleep, there was something so calming about it. </p><p>Just then, Liam returned with two ice packs and gave them to Fallon, who quickly settled them against her breasts, before getting back in bed.</p><p>“Let me know if you need anything else” he said before settling back against his pillows.</p><p>A couple hours passed and Fallon still couldn’t sleep, but not because of her breasts this time. Now she couldn’t stop thinking about burgers. She hadn’t had one in a very long time, in fact, she couldn’t even tell you when the last time was that she had a burger but she wanted one so bad.</p><p>“Liam” she whispered into the dark “Liam” she whispered again, a little louder this time, and shook his shoulder lightly</p><p>“What?” Liam mumbled groggily </p><p>“I want a burger” </p><p>“A what?” He asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes</p><p>“A burger” Fallon repeated herself “can you make me one?” She pleaded</p><p>“What, now? At 2 in the morning?”</p><p>“Please?” Fallon pouted</p><p>“We don’t have the stuff to make burgers fal”</p><p>“Then can you go get one from a fast food place?”</p><p>“Fallon Carrington wants a burger from a fast food restaurant. Am I hearing this right? I’m not dreaming am I?” Liam teased</p><p>“Please Liam, I can’t sleep, all I can think about is damn burgers, I don’t care if it’s from a fast food chain.”</p><p>“Ok fine, but only because I love you and you’re pregnant, an you clearly really want it” </p><p>“Can you get it with everything on it”</p><p>“Of course.” Liam said before getting out of bed for the second time that night and putting on a pair of sweats and a jacket “I’ll be back in a bit”</p><p>“Thank you babe” Fallon grinned</p><p>Liam left and drove to the nearest fast food restaurant that was open and ordered a burger with everything on it. He drove back home and headed back upstairs with the food. When he went into the master bedroom though, Fallon was fast asleep. He just smiled and went to put the burger in the fridge before carefully joining her in bed so she wouldn’t wake up. He would go to the ends of the earth for this woman.</p><p>—————</p><p>The next morning Fallon woke up still thinking of burgers. She suddenly realized that she had never gotten hers last night. She looked over to Liam who was fast asleep and decided not to wake him. She had a little while until Sophia woke up so she got up and put on her silk robe and went downstairs. She went strait to the fridge in search of the burger Liam had gone to get her in the middle of the night.</p><p>When she opened the large door a wrapped burger was sitting right in front of her face. She smiled and grabbed the food and sat down to eat it. Yes, it was 7 in the morning, but Fallon didn’t care.</p><p>Right as she was taking her first bite Liam walked through the kitchen door holding Sophia and laughed at the sight he saw.</p><p>“Really Fal” he teased</p><p>“I want my burger” Fallon defended herself</p><p>“Hey, I’m not judging, you can eat what you want whenever you want. I just think it’s funny”</p><p>“It’s only funny because you’re not the one pregnant right now”</p><p>“Which is why you can eat what you want” Liam said as he went to go prepare Sophia’s bottle “how did you sleep last night? You were asleep when I came back.”</p><p>“After I actually fell asleep I slept pretty good”</p><p>“That’s good, I read that you can have bad insomnia when you’re pregnant.” Liam mentioned</p><p>“Yeah, that’s probably what happened last night”</p><p>“Hopefully it won’t last too long”</p><p>“I know, I’m going to need all the energy I can get for when we have two babies”</p><p>“For sure.” Liam nodded “do you want to go back to bed? I can watch Sophia.”</p><p>“That would be great. Thank you, and thanks for going to get me this last night” Fallon said, holding the burger up</p><p>“No problem, I’ll do anything you need”</p><p>“I love you” Fallon smiled sentimentally</p><p>“I love you too”</p>
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<a name="section0034"><h2>34. It’s a...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam find out the gender of their baby.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fallon was now approaching 18 weeks pregnant which meant she would be having her anatomy ultrasound soon, which was also where they could find out the gender of the baby.</p><p>She scheduled the appointment for when she was just about 18 and a half weeks. Liam, of course, would come, but Alexis was going to be watching Sophia for the afternoon.</p><p>“Do you want to find out the gender?” Liam asked the night before the appointment when they were getting ready for bed</p><p>“I think I do. There is part of me that doesn’t want to know so I don’t get attached in case something goes wrong but I also really want know.”</p><p>“I think we should. We haven’t known the genders of any of our other babies so it would be special to know this one, even if something still does go wrong”</p><p>“That’s a good point” Fallon nodded “I guess we will find out then. What do you want, a boy or a girl?” She asked, getting excited</p><p>“I just want a healthy baby, I don’t care what they are”</p><p>“Come on, you have to have a preference. I obviously don’t care either and only want them to be healthy too, but I think it would be nice to have a boy.”</p><p>“It would be fun to have a boy, since we have a girl, but I truly don’t care” </p><p>“Whatever you say” Fallon said teasingly, then she looked down at her growing bump and smiled “I can’t wait to know you baby”</p><p>“Imagine, in just a few short months we will have two kids, two! That is still so crazy to wrap my head around. We went from having none to having two in nine months, that’s crazy!” Liam chuckled in disbelief </p><p>“We’re crazy, we are basically going to be having twins except they will be in slightly different stages but still need the same amount of attention.” </p><p>“It’s going to be difficult, but we have lots of people to help out” Liam said </p><p>“We just have to hope they don’t inherit my many bad parts”</p><p>“In my eyes, you have no bad parts, just a few more difficult ones” Liam grinned</p><p>“Hey” Fallon fake pouted</p><p>“But I love every singe one” Liam continued</p><p>“Nice save”</p><p>“It’s not a save if I mean it” countered Liam </p><p>Fallon just made a funny face as she pulled back the covers to get under them.</p><p>“I’m nervous for tomorrow” she said quietly as Liam walked towards the bed to join her</p><p>“I know, so am I.”</p><p>“Will you hold my hand while they’re doing the anatomy part?”</p><p>“Of course” Liam smiled before he leaned over to kiss her cheek </p><p>—————</p><p>The next morning they got ready and left to drop Sophia off with Alexis before heading to their appointment.</p><p>“So!” Alexis said when they arrived “will we know if I’m having another granddaughter or a grandson after this appointment?” She prodded</p><p>“Hopefully. Not that you’ll find out either way though.”</p><p>“Oh come on! Can’t you tell your own mother?” Alexis complained</p><p>“You’ll find out when everyone else does, don’t push it.” Fallon warned as she handed Sophia’s stuff to her</p><p>“Fine, fine. Go to your appointment” Alexis said, waving them off</p><p>“Call if you need anything” Fallon yelled over her shoulder as she walked back to the car</p><p>“We’ll be fine, don’t you worry.” Alexis yelled back</p><p>About 30 minutes later, Fallon was in the exam chair getting her ultrasound.</p><p>“I have to say, baby is looking very good in there.” Dr. Johnson said while she was looking at the ultrasound screen “they are measuring on the bigger side, which is great, heartbeat still looks strong, and I can clearly see all the limbs. I just have to look at the organs and heart now which might take a while so don’t be alarmed with how long it takes.” The woman informed them. </p><p>Fallon looked up at Liam and he squeezed her hand as they caught eyes and they exchanged sentimental smiles.</p><p>For the next 40 minutes all they could hear was the scratch of a pen on paper and quiet sounds the doctor was making as she checked the baby out. To Fallon it felt like an excruciating amount of time since she was just staring at the ceiling, as time went on she got increasingly uncomfortable and tried her hardest not to fidget. </p><p>“Do you need a break?” Dr. Johnson asked kindly noticing Fallon tensing up</p><p>“No, just keep going, I’m just a little uncomfortable.” </p><p>“I’m pretty much done and everything is looking good from what I can see, nothing seems out of the ordinary.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s great” Fallon breathed in relief</p><p>“Would you like to know the sex of your baby?” Dr. Johnson asked, and the couple nodded their heads enthusiastically </p><p>“Yes please” Liam spoke</p><p>The young woman turned the screen towards them and moved the wand around for a few moments to find the right angle.</p><p>“Let’s see...you are having a boy Congratulations!”</p><p>“Really!” Liam exclaimed </p><p>“You can see on the screen” she said matter of factly as she pointed it out</p><p>“Yup, definitely a boy” Liam laughed before leaning down to kiss Fallon who had tears starting to form in her eyes</p><p>“We’re having a boy Fal!” He whispered while resting his forehead against hers “a son!”</p><p>Fallon let out a breathy laugh of relief and happiness as she shared the moment with her husband. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard, and felt so much more connected to her baby. She had been trying to not pay much attention to the pregnancy in case she lost it but hearing what she was having made it so much more real and she was glad they had decided to find out the gender.</p><p>—————</p><p>“How do you think we should tell everyone we’re having a boy?” Fallon asked in the car on the way home</p><p>“I don’t know, I feel like we shouldn’t  make a big deal about it since the pregnancy is still somewhat fragile”</p><p>“That’s a good point. I don’t want to get everyone’s hopes up in case something goes wrong.”</p><p>“Let’s keep it to ourselves for a little bit and let the fact that we are having a boy sink in before we go telling everyone.” Liam suggested</p><p>“Okay” Fallon nodded “I still can’t believe it. It feels so weird to say that I’m going to have a son.”</p><p>“I know. It’s perfect though, a boy and a girl, it’s everything I’ve ever wanted”</p><p>“Me too” Fallon whispered</p>
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<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Boy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam tell their family that they’re having a boy.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>About a week after Fallon and Liam found out they were having a boy had gotten used to the fact and were ready to tell family. Fallon was anxious about getting everyone’s hopes up since her pregnancy was still considered high risk so she wanted to be very delicate about who to tell and how to let them know. She decided that she was just going to start saying “he” when talking about the baby and hope that people picked up on it instead of having to straight up tell them it was a boy. </p><p>Alexis had invited Fallon to a girls day with just the two of them so she decided that it would be the perfect time to bring it up with her. </p><p>First, they went and got massages. Alexis made sure Fallon got a prenatal one even though she still only had a very small bump. </p><p>“How is the baby doing, by the way?” Alexis asked while they were waiting to be called back</p><p>“He’s great, he’s growing as he should and his heartbeat is strong” Fallon said, taking the opportunity to say he as many times as she could </p><p>Unfortunately, Alexis didn’t notice and just kept on talking.</p><p>“That’s great! I’m so happy you are finally having a healthy pregnancy Fallon.” She said smiling at her daughter “when will I find out if it’s a boy or a girl?”</p><p>“I literally just said what it was.” Fallon said, a little bit annoyed</p><p>“You did? When?” Alexis asked with a confused look on her face “Wait, you said he! You’re having a boy?!”</p><p>“Mhm” Fallon nodded</p><p>“Congratulations honey! I’m so happy for you two!” Alexis exclaimed while pulling Fallon into a hug</p><p>“Don’t get too attached to the idea, just in case” Fallon warned her</p><p>Before Alexis could respond, their names were called so they could go get their massages. She gave Fallon one last hug when they stood up before they went into their respective rooms.</p><p>When they were done they went to go get their nails done and Alexis blabbered on and on about when Steven was a baby, making sure to not leave out any details, even the ones Fallon didn’t want to know. </p><p>“Mom, I don’t need to hear every detail” Fallon rolled her eyes</p><p>“I just want you to be prepared, trust me, I’m doing you a favor.”</p><p>“I bet you were hardly even around when Steven was a baby”</p><p>“That’s not true, after Adam was kidnapped I didn’t let Steven out of my sight for the first few months” Alexis defended herself</p><p>“Yeah, the first few months, what about after that”</p><p>“I was around as much as he needed me to be”</p><p>“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night” Fallon scoffed lightly </p><p>“Look Fallon, I just want to be involved with your kids lives ok, I know I made mistakes in the past and I’ve apologized more times than I can count. Will you please just accept my help?” </p><p>“Fine, but only because I know how much Sophia loves you and I know this baby will too” Fallon gave in</p><p>“Thank you. Now, back to Steven”</p><p>“Mom!” Fallon cut her off</p><p>“Ok ok, fine! What do you want to talk about?”</p><p>“I do appreciate and want your help, just not all at once while we’re having our nails done. We should talk about fun stuff like vacations or things like that” Fallon explained </p><p>“I’m going to Dubai at the end of summer” Alexis said, jumping at the opportunity to talk more about herself and Fallon just rolled her eyes and let her ramble on.</p><p>—————</p><p>The next day Fallon and Liam had planned to tell Blake and Crystal after a meeting for Carrington Atlantic but it ended up being rescheduled so Fallon decided to just call them instead.</p><p>“Hey Fal, too bad the meeting got postponed huh?” Blake said when he answered</p><p>“Yeah, but that’s not why I’m calling you” </p><p>“Oh?”</p><p>“I was going to tell you this after the meeting but since it got moved I wanted to tell you now” Fallon explained</p><p>“What is it?” Blake asked sounding worried</p><p>“Liam and I found out last week that we are having a boy” </p><p>“That’s so great sweetheart!” The older man exclaimed </p><p>“Yeah, we’re really excited”</p><p>“I bet! When I found out you were a girl after having two boys I was so happy, I finally got to have my little princess.”</p><p>“That’s how we feel but the other way around, we have our girl so we are looking forward to have one of each.”</p><p>“Thank you for letting me know, I know how hard this has all been for you” Blake said</p><p>“Just don’t get your hopes up too high. I don’t want you to be disappointed if something happens”</p><p>“I would never be disappointed Fallon, I hope you know that, whatever happens I’ll be here for you”</p><p>“Thank you daddy, that means a lot coming from you.” Fallon murmured</p><p>“Of course sweetheart, I’ll talk to later, I love you”</p><p>“I love you too” Fallon said back before hanging up the phone. </p><p>—————</p><p>“What are you thinking about names?” Liam asked later that day</p><p>“I don’t know, I have a few that I like but I don’t really want to name him before he is born so I don’t get too attached”</p><p>“Fal, you’ve got to relax a little bit. Dr. Johnson is pretty sure that this is going to be a healthy baby that you carry to term.” </p><p>“But she can’t know that for sure” Fallon said </p><p>“If you refuse to let yourself get attached to him you might have a hard time bonding when he is born. You need to follow your heart even though I know it can be really hard.” Liam said while looking at her intently</p><p>“I know, I just don’t want to get hurt again”</p><p>“I get it, I went through it too, not as bad as you did, but still. If you don’t want to name him officially until he’s born, that’s fine, but I think we should come up with some names so we can see what we both like.”</p><p>“I can deal with that” Fallon smiled</p><p>“Do you also promise that you will try to relax a little bit? The stress isn’t doing him any good.”</p><p>“I will try” Fallon nodded</p><p>“Thank you, I know this is not easy”</p>
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<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Names</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam talk a loud baby names.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So, Mr. I want to find a name, what kind of names did you have in mind for our baby boy?” Fallon teased</p><p>“Hey, there’s no need to taunt me like that” Liam teased back</p><p>“Ok then. Liam. What do you think we should name our baby?” Fallon said, taking a much more serious tone</p><p>“Much better” Liam grinned “I don’t have any specific names yet, but you said the other day that you had some in mind, so let’s hear them”</p><p>“I have always liked the name James but now that we are actually having a boy I don’t think I like it as a first name, but maybe it could be a middle name.”</p><p>“I like James as a middle name. What others do you have?”</p><p>“I kind of like Lucas, but I’m not sure. Those are the only two I have so far, I haven’t looked at many names.”</p><p>“I like Lucas, I think it’s a possibility. We definitely need to look more into names.”</p><p>“For sure.” Fallon giggled “I have looked through some lists of boys names but I just haven’t really found any I liked.”</p><p>“I saw some when we were looking for Sophia’s name but none stood out to me either. I haven’t looked since then.”</p><p>“I feel like it’s harder choosing a boy name, maybe it’s just because I’m a girl so I know what names I like or maybe I’m just more picky with boy names.” Fallon said</p><p>“Well I don’t know how it is for me yet since I haven’t looked at many names, I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”</p><p>Throughout the next couple of weeks whenever one of them came across a name they liked they would shout across the house at each other which they had just randomly started doing and Fallon found it really funny.</p><p>“How about Emmett?” Liam yelled from the upstairs office while Fallon was in the living room playing with Sophia.</p><p>“No!” Fallon shouted back, accidentally scaring Sophia who started to cry “oh no, I’m sorry honey, I didn’t mean to startle you” she cooed while picking her daughter up to comfort her “Mommy didn’t mean to, I won’t do it again” she promised the 5 month old</p><p>Fallon stood up with Sophia, who was calming down, and walked upstairs to the office where Liam was. When she got there Liam saw the tears on the little girls face and stood up to see if she was ok</p><p>“What happened?” he asked Sophia in a high pitched voice</p><p>“I scared her when I yelled back at you” Fallon explained</p><p>“You poor thing, did mommy scare you? Come here baby.” Liam said with a pouty face while reaching out for the baby.</p><p>“No fair, now you get to be the good guy” Fallon said in a fake sad tone</p><p>“You shouldn’t have scared her if you wanted to be the good guy” </p><p>“I’m always going to be the bad guy, aren’t I. You are just going to spoil her and say yes to everything because you are too much of a softy to tell her no”</p><p>“Hey, Watch your mouth, I’m no softy” Liam joked </p><p>“Says the man who wanted to get a life sized play house for her in the backyard”</p><p>“I still think she would love that.”</p><p>“No way” Fallon shook her head firmly “I don’t want our children to be spoiled rich kids like I was. They can have a play structure in the back yard, like a normal kid would.”</p><p>“Fine. I’m doing to get her the best doll house  when she’s old enough to play with dolls though”</p><p>“What if she doesn’t like playing with dolls?” Fallon asked</p><p>“Then I’ll get her the best of whatever she likes to play with. My baby girl is getting the best of everything”</p><p>“You better run all these future purchases past me first, Mr. Ridley.” Fallon warned</p><p>“I will, don’t you worry” Liam smiled before leaning forward to place a kiss on her stern lips.</p><p>—————</p><p>Later that week they still hadn’t gotten very far on what names they liked. After the incident with Sophia they agreed to stop yelling names across the house but that didn’t mean it had to stop being fun. </p><p>Liam was down in the kitchen cooking dinner while Fallon put Sophia to bed. When she was done, Fallon quietly walked downstairs and padded over to the kitchen door before peeking in. Liam had his back turned to her while he chopped some vegetables so this was the perfect moment for what Fallon planned to do. </p><p>She slowly pushed the door open and walked over so she was standing behind her husband. She leaned forward and whispered loudly in his ear</p><p>“What about Jackson?”</p><p>“Geez fal!” Liam jumped, almost dropping the knife</p><p>“Whoops, did I scare you?” Fallon asked innocently</p><p>“Yeah, you did. I could have cut myself”</p><p>“But you didn’t” Fallon shrugged “you didn’t answer my question”</p><p>“What was the name?”</p><p>“Jackson”</p><p>Liam thought for a moment “Jackson is ok, not my favorite, but I don’t hate it”</p><p>“Have you come up with any more names?”</p><p>“I saw two the other day that I liked. Felix and Noah” Liam said while returning to his chopping</p><p>“I like Felix. Not Noah though, I knew a kid in high school named Noah and he was horrible.”</p><p>“What names do we have so far then?” </p><p>“Jackson, Felix, Lucas, and Oliver for first names and James, Fox, and Aiden for middle names” Fallon listed off</p><p>“I’m pretty happy with those. What about you?”</p><p>“I am too. I think we have a good selection to choose from when he’s born.” Fallon agreed “</p><p>“And we can always add more if we find some we like. And who knows, when we look at him for the first a whole new name might fit him perfectly.”</p><p>“Exactly” Fallon nodded</p><p>—————</p><p>The next morning they were lying in bed with Sophia since it was a Sunday. They liked to have lazy mornings in bed on Sundays. Fallon all of a sudden gasped and put her hand over her stomach, which was now noticeably a pregnancy bump.</p><p>“What?” Liam asked sounding worried</p><p>“I think I just felt baby boy move!” </p><p>“Really?!”</p><p>“Yeah! I’ve been feeling this bubbling sensation in my stomach for the past few days but I just brushed it off as gas or something but I just felt a definite movement in there.” Fallon said in awe.</p><p>“You’re so lucky you get to feel him, I won’t get to for at least another few weeks.”</p><p>“Aw, don’t be jealous babe. When he’s here you can take care of him as much as you like to make up for lost time” Fallon laughed</p><p>“You are so funny” Liam said in a flat tone </p><p>“I know I am, it’s one of my specialties” she said while batting her eyelashes and flicking her hair behind her shoulder as best she could in true Fallon Carrington style.</p><p>“Don’t look at her Sophia” Liam said while gently covering the baby’s eyes “we don’t need another drama queen in this house” he teased</p><p>“You love it”</p><p>“I love you” Liam grinned cheekily </p><p>“I love you too”</p>
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<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Hospital</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon goes to the hospital for some contractions she’s been feeling.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>At around 22 weeks pregnant Fallon was still having a healthy pregnancy. She was now over half way, which was a huge relief. She was almost to the point where if she ended up having to deliver the baby they could take care of him outside her womb.</p><p>She had started feeling a little bit of cramping but Dr. Johnson had assured her that they were just Braxton Hicks contractions and that they were completely normal. Fallon hated them though, they reminded her of when she miscarried, but she knew she would eventually get used to them.</p><p>One day, though, the contractions got a little stronger than they had previously felt. It worried Fallon a little but she didn’t say anything and just assumed that it was normal. </p><p>She carried on with her day at work and tried to ignore them, but she couldn’t. She started noticing that they were happening in similar intervals and they were getting a bit stronger. She felt like something might be wrong so she decided to call liam.</p><p>“Hey babe, what’s up?” Liam answered</p><p>“Hi, So I’ve been having some contractions but I don’t think they are Braxton Hicks, they feel too regular.” Fallon told him</p><p>“Have you called Dr. Johnson?”</p><p>“No, I didn’t know if I should.” Fallon confessed</p><p>“Why don’t you give her a call and ask her just to be sure”</p><p>“Ok, I’ll call you when I get off the phone with her.” Fallon said before hanging up and calling her obgyn</p><p>She explained what she was feeling and everything that was going on. The doctor felt like it would be a good idea for Fallon to get checked out at the hospital just to be sure she wasn’t going into early labor. </p><p>Fallon called Liam back as soon as she hung up with the young woman.</p><p>“Dr. Johnson thinks I should get check at the hospital” she said when her husband picked up</p><p>“What? Why?” Liam asked sounding concerned </p><p>“She said I might be going into early labor” </p><p>“Oh god, ok, um, I will come pick you up and take you so you don’t have to drive to the hospital alone. I’ll be there in about 20 minutes”</p><p>“See you soon”</p><p>Fallon got her things and told Allison she had to leave for the day, leaving out the details, and went to wait where Liam usually picked her up from work. Like he had said, Liam showed up almost exactly 20 minutes after they had gotten off the phone. </p><p>“Alexis has Sophia, I called her as soon as I finished talking to you and luckily she wasn’t doing anything so she came over right away.”<br/>Liam told her when he saw her look to the back seat with a confused look on her face </p><p>“You didn’t tell her what’s going on did you?” Fallon worried</p><p>“Not everything. I obviously had to have a reason she needed to be at the house as soon as she could, but I just told her you had an important appointment that we forgot about.”</p><p>“Ok good, I don’t need her all over my business right now” </p><p>“Dr. Johnson really thinks your in early labor?” Liam asked</p><p>“She said it is very possible with the symptoms I was describing, but she said there are some drugs they can give me to stop it from progressing if I get there early enough.”</p><p>“Let’s hope we get there in time then, we want this baby to stay inside for at least another few months.”</p><p>—————</p><p>At the hospital Fallon and Liam were taken straight strait to a room and Fallon was checked right away. They put a monitor on her to track the contractions and another one to watch baby’s heartbeat. A nurse also checked her cervix and found that she was one centimeter dilated, which was not good for where she was at in the pregnancy.</p><p>Before giving her the drugs they hooked her up to an IV to see if dehydration was the cause of the contractions. They also gave Fallon something to eat and told her to try to relax and that they’d check on her in 30 minutes.</p><p>“How do they expect me to relax when I’m in the hospital and potentially in labor” Fallon complained when the nurse left the room</p><p>“I know relaxing isn’t really your forte, especially for something like this, but if you want to stop this you need to at least try” </p><p>Fallon glared at him but he knew it was a harmless look, she was just frustrated with the whole situation.</p><p>“Why don’t we turn on a show to take your mind off things” Liam suggested while standing up to get the remote</p><p>“Will you lay in bed with me?” Fallon asked in a small voice</p><p>“Of course” </p><p>Fallon shifted as far to the side of the hospital bed as she could and lifted the blanket for Liam who quickly got under them. </p><p>“I don’t want to watch TV, I just want to lay here with you” Fallon murmured while taking the remote out of his hand and placing it on the table next to the bed</p><p>Liam slid one arm under her and put the other over and pulled her into a tight hug. Fallon sighed against his chest as she settled into his warm embrace.</p><p>“We’ll get through this” Liam assured her</p><p>—————</p><p>Half an hour later the nurse came back into the room to check on Fallon again. She looked intently at all the machines</p><p>“It looks like your contractions have remained the same which isn’t a good or bad sign. It could mean anything. We’ll keep you here for another few hours to monitor you so we can make sure they don’t pick back up again.” The woman said with a sympathetic look on her face. </p><p>“A few hours?” Fallon asked her, somewhat annoyed</p><p>“Just to be on the safe side” the nurse nodded before turning and walking out of the room</p><p>“Uggghhh” Fallon groaned loudly</p><p>“Hey, hey” Liam cooed quietly “just keep thinking of our little boy in there okay”</p><p>“Hey mister” Fallon said to her belly “you better stay in there, we’re not ready for you yet”</p><p>“That’s not exactly what I meant, but it’s a start” Liam laughed “I’m going to call Alexis to tell her we’ll be a little longer, do you want anything from the cafeteria?”</p><p>“Ew, no” Fallon scoffed</p><p>“I’ll get you some water then” </p><p>When Liam got back Fallon was on her phone and her face was all scrunched up in frustration while she looked at it.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Liam asked while placing a bottle of water in the table</p><p>“Replying to work emails, I swear a monkey could work better that these people, they’re useless!”</p><p>“Fallon!” Liam exclaimed while grabbing the phone out of her hands</p><p>“Hey! I need that!”</p><p>“No you don’t. You’re supposed to be relaxing. Replying to work emails will just increase your stress” Liam said sternly </p><p>“Hmph” Fallon breathed angrily as she crossed her arms over her chest</p><p>“Now wipe that frown off your face or else it will get stuck like that, you don’t want that do you” Liam teased while leaning over to kiss every inch of her face causing her to giggle.</p><p>“Stop! Stop!” Fallon gasped through her laughter </p><p>“That’s better” Liam smiled before placing one final kiss on her lips</p><p>—————</p><p>After two more long hours the doctor decided to give Fallon a small dose of the medication to stop her contractions. They hadn’t gotten worse, but they hadn’t gotten any better either, so in order for Fallon not to stay the night they decided that medication was the best route to go. They also told her she needed to be on bed rest for the next week, which meant no work, and Fallon was not happy about it, but at least she got to go home.</p><p>The drugs made all of Fallon’s limbs feel super heavy and when she tried to move it was like she was in slow motion. They had to take her to the car in a wheelchair because she couldn’t walk. Liam helped her into the car and the nurse that had brought her down left when she was settled in her seat. </p><p>“This is the worst feeling in the world” Fallon groaned when Liam got into the drivers seat beside her</p><p>“I know, I’m sorry you had to go through all this” Liam said while reaching over to take her hand “let’s just get home and have some dinner and go to bed”</p><p>“Is it dinner time?” </p><p>“It’s 7:00” Liam said, pointing to the car clock</p><p>“Wow, I didn’t even realize we were there for so long” </p><p>“Which is why we need to get you something to eat” Liam said while starting the car “what do you want?”</p><p>“I want waffles. And strawberries. And bacon. And maybe some eggs” Fallon said as the thought about what she wanted to eat</p><p>“Breakfast for dinner it is then!”</p>
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<a name="section0038"><h2>38. Preparing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam prepare everything for the hospital just in case Fallon goes into early labor again.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Two weeks after the labor scare Fallon was finally feeling like her normal self again. She had been allowed to go back to work last week on the condition that she take it easy. She wasn’t supposed to lift anything heavy or do any intense exercise, not that she would anyway, and if she started feeling contractions again she had to call Dr. Johnson right away.</p><p>If she went into early labor again they might not be able to stop it so Fallon made sure to be easy on herself. Liam really stepped up to help ease her work load, much to her dismay, but she couldn’t really argue with him since it was for the sake of their son. One thing that was good was that now she could feel him move it gave her peace of mind knowing he was still doing ok. Liam was even starting to feel some very light kicks as well if he concentrated hard enough. </p><p>“I think I felt a kick!” Liam exclaimed “was that him kicking?”</p><p>“Yep! He knows his daddy is next to him” Fallon smiled</p><p>They were laying in bed and Liam had his hand under Fallon’s pajama top on her bump so he could feel the baby’s movements</p><p>“Try talking to him, he probably knows your voice and might start moving more” Fallon suggested</p><p>“Talking to him?”</p><p>“Yeah, tell a story or something, he can hear you from in there” </p><p>“Hello baby boy, this is your daddy. Mommy and I are so excited to meet you, but not right now, you need to stay out for a little while longer. I can tell you’re going to be a strong little man, you’re already a fighter.” Liam smiled as he felt some movements against his palm</p><p>“Just like his dad” Fallon said</p><p>“I can’t wait to teach you how to swim like your sister, oh, and for you to meet your sister too, she’s going to love you so much, she really is the sweetest little girl. I hope you both grow up knowing you have each other’s backs.” Liam continued “we love you so much already”</p><p>“Did you feel him moving? He was rolling around like crazy” Fallon giggled</p><p>“Yeah. It’s so wild that there is a human in there and I can feel him. Pregnancy is crazy”</p><p>“Tell me about it”</p><p>“I think tomorrow we should pack a hospital bag just in case you go into labor. And we should get a car seat and start the nursery even if he’s going to be sleeping in here for a while. I want to be prepared”</p><p>“I was thinking the same thing” Fallon nodded “I can see if my mom can watch Sophia for the day so we can get some stuff done”</p><p>“Sounds good” Liam smiled softly</p><p>———————</p><p>The next morning Alexis came to pick up Sophia for the day. She didn’t stay long, just enough to get the 6 month olds schedule and all of her things.</p><p>“Okay, what first?” Fallon asked as soon as Alexis left</p><p>“I think we should get the car seat first, we have enough stuff from Sophia that we could get by but we definitely need another seat.”</p><p>“I really like the one we have for Sophia so I’ll just order another one of those.” Fallon said as she got on her phone to do just that</p><p>“While you’re doing that, I’ll go get the suitcases that we’re going to pack for the hospital. Meet me upstairs when you’re done”</p><p>“Got it” Fallon said offhandedly as she found the car seat she wanted and put in her card number and address to have it shipped to the house. </p><p>Liam went upstairs and retrieved their suitcases from the back of their closet and laid them open on the bed so he could start packing as Fallon walked in the bedroom. </p><p>“I can do one for the baby while you pack yours” Fallon said “and then I’ll do mine once I research what I should bring.”</p><p>“Sounds good.” Liam nodded before walking into the closet to pick out some outfits.</p><p>Fallon got everything she needed and spread it out on the bed so she could make sure she wasn’t missing anything. She had a couple of outfits both in preemie size and newborn size just in case she gave birth early, she had lotions and baby wash, swaddle blankets, diapers and wipes. She figured if she forgot anything either the hospital would have it or Liam could quickly come home to grab it.</p><p>Liam was quick to pack his bag. He pretty much just packed like he was going on a trip to meet with investors. Fallon, on the other hand, was having a lot of trouble figuring out what she needed to bring since this was her first time giving birth. </p><p>“Can you look up a list of stuff they recommend moms to bring in their hospital bags?” Fallon asked Liam when she saw that he was done packing</p><p>“Yeah, one sec” Liam said as he typed on his phone “this seems like a good one” he said after a couple moments of looking through lists</p><p>“Read it out to me and I’ll see what I’m missing”</p><p>“For clothes it says you should bring loose pajamas, a nursing bra, breast pads, leggings, socks, flip flops, slippers, and a comfy going home outfit.” Liam listed</p><p>“I have all of those plus a couple extra things so I’m good there, what else?”</p><p>“Your normal toiletries. It says the hospitals should be able to supply you with numbing sprays for down there and pads or adult diapers for the bleeding.” Liam read. “Other things it recommends are a water bottle, nipple cream, snacks, pacifiers, important documents, and a fuzzy blanket” </p><p>“Oh! I almost have everything then. I just need snacks and important documents. I’m also bringing some of my own things for helping heal down there that I heard were good. Who knows what the hospital gives you.” </p><p>“Great, do you need help packing it all?” </p><p>“No, I’ve got it. Why don’t you go start cleaning out the room that’s going to be the nursery. I’ll come help when I’m done.” Fallon said</p><p>“Okay, just call me if you need anything, I’ll be right down the hall.”</p><p>“Yeah yeah, I know.” Fallon rolled her eyes, shooing her husband away with a wave of her hand.</p><p>Liam walked down the hall to the room just past Sophia’s room that was going to be the new baby’s nursery. He stood at the door for a second to see what he had to do. The room was currently being used as a guest bedroom but it didn’t have much furniture in it, just a bed, two bedside tables a chair, and a dresser. There was a big picture on the wall and a mirror above the dresser. Liam decided to take these down first. </p><p>The room was painted a pale green color which they had decided to keep. Fallon wanted to decorate it with a mild safari theme since the baby was their strong little lion. They had decided on white furniture, like Sophia had in her room. </p><p>Liam moved the picture and the mirror into the hall outside the room and went to move the nightstands there as well. He then started taking the bedding off the bed and folding it, putting it on the dresser so their house cleaner could get it to wash. </p><p>Fallon came in and sat in the chair in the corner to watch her husband since she wasn’t exactly allowed to help since what was left to move was heavy.</p><p>“I’m going to have to get someone to help move the dresser and take apart the bed” Liam said as he looked at the two furniture pieces left in the room. </p><p>“Okay. I can start ordering the baby furniture, I pretty much have everything picked out. Maybe you can wait until it arrives so they can help you move that stuff in and put it together while they’re here, after you move this stuff out.”</p><p>“Oh yeah, that’s a good idea. Let me know when it’s supposed to come so I can find someone whose available around then.”</p><p>“Okay!” Fallon said happily as she got on her phone to start ordering</p>
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<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Baby food</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sophia tried baby food for the first time and Fallon and Liam do more preparing for the baby.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for readying!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hurry up Liam, she’s hungry!” Fallon yelled impatiently </p><p>They were going to give Sophia her first baby food and Liam wanted to video it but had left his phone upstairs so he ran to quickly grab it. Sophia was starting to get upset in her high chair because she was hungry.</p><p>“Ok, I’m here” Liam panted as he reentered the  kitchen.</p><p>“Ok Sophia, are you ready to try some avocado?” Fallon asked the baby girl </p><p>Fallon spooned some of the mashed avocado into the plastic baby spoon and put it against the 6 month old’s lips. Sophia didn’t really know what to do with it so she pulled her head away and tried to grab the spoon. </p><p>“No no” Fallon said gently, pulling the spoon away “it goes in your mouth. Like this!” She said, demonstrating with her own mouth. “See? Now you do it.”</p><p>Fallon redirected the avocado back to Sophia’s mouth and pushed the spoon past her slightly parted lips. The baby girl made a funny face and pulled her head away.</p><p>“It’s strange, isn’t it?” Liam chuckled </p><p>“Let’s try some more” Fallon said, taking another spoonful and putting it in Sophia’s mouth</p><p>The baby accepted the spoon but still made a funny face. She moved her jaw and her tongue around, tasting the foreign substance in her mouth. </p><p>“See? It’s not so bad!” Fallon smiled “tomorrow you can try some banana”</p><p>They spent the next 20 minutes switching off feeding Sophia the avocado and when she was done Fallon cleaned her up and fed her a bottle since she was still hungry.</p><p>“The furniture for the nursery is supposed to come tomorrow” Fallon told Liam who was cleaning up the dishes she had made while making the avocado. </p><p>“One of my old college buddies, Daniel, said he’d help me set everything up, I’ll text him tonight and see if he can come over this weekend” </p><p>“Thank you. I can’t wait to see how the nursery turns out.”</p><p>“I think you did a great job designing it, it’s going to look really cute”</p><p>—————</p><p>On Saturday Liam’s friend came over and they got to work on the nursery. First, they took apart the bed and moved all the pieces and the mattress out and then they moved the dresser.</p><p>Liam quickly swept the floor and then they started bringing the new furniture in. While they were setting everything up Fallon was in the en-suite bathroom decorating in there with more rustic safari stuff. It didn’t take her long which was good because Sophia ended up waking up early from her nap. Fallon went and played with Sophia in her nursery while the men worked in the room next door. </p><p>“Soon your brother is going to be in that room” Fallon told Sophia as she handed her a toy “don’t worry though, we won’t forget about you, I promise.” </p><p>Fallon and Sophia continued playing while Liam and his friend were putting together the crib. Liam remembered how difficult it was to put together Sophia’s furniture so he was glad to have some help. They managed to get everything set up fairly quickly.</p><p>“Fal, come tell us where you want all of this” Liam said while poking his head into Sophia’s nursery</p><p>“Coming” Fallon responded while picking up her daughter</p><p>They walked back to the new baby’s room and Fallon looked over the space to decide where she wanted the furniture to go.</p><p>“I think the crib should go against this wall.” Fallon said, pointing to where she wanted it “and the dresser would be best on the wall across from it”</p><p>“What about the rocking chair?” Liam asked</p><p>Fallon thought for a second “put it next to the crib. I have a little table coming that I want to go next to it.”</p><p>Liam and Daniel moved everything to where Fallon had instructed and stood back to get her approval.</p><p>“You happy with it?” Liam asked</p><p>“Yeah, I like it!” Fallon nodded happily “can you unroll the rug and put it in the middle of the floor?”</p><p>The two men did as she asked and unrolled the fluffy white rug and centered it in the room.</p><p>“Great. Thank you boys. I think that’s all for now, I can do the rest of the decorating” Fallon dismissed them</p><p>“You want to go get a beer and sit by the pool to catch up?” Liam asked Daniel who nodded as they left the room</p><p>Fallon put the sheet on the bed and placed some decorative pillows on the rocking chair. She then put a cover over the changing table pad and moved a lamp next to it on the surface of the dresser. She had some pictures of baby animals that she wanted to hang up above the crib but Liam could do that himself later. Once she was satisfied she sat in the rocking chair to take a break and watched Sophia play on the carpet. </p><p>—————</p><p>Later that evening Fallon and Liam were trying to figure out anything else they needed to do before the baby came. </p><p>“Once the car seat arrives we can put it in the car so if we have to leave in a hurry it’s ready.” Fallon suggested</p><p>“What is it supposed to get here?”</p><p>“In a couple days.”</p><p>“When it comes I’ll put it straight in the car.” Liam said “do we have someone to watch Sophia?”</p><p>“Alexis said she is on standby and will come take care of her. Blake also said he would check up on them if we end up in the hospital for a while.”</p><p>“Great. I’ll put the hospital bags in the trunk of the car tomorrow and I think we’ll be ready after that.” Liam said</p><p>“I feel much more relaxed now that everything is taken care of. I can focus more on myself and Sophia now.”</p><p>“Me too. This has probably been the most stressful time in my life, and I have had one hell of a life.”</p><p>“It’s definitely at the top of my list too. Let’s just hope it’s all worth it.”</p><p>“It will be, look at how much Sophia changed our lives, I didn’t think I could know love like that.”</p><p>“But what if I’m not capable of loving both of them equally?” Fallon worried</p><p>“You will, you just have to wait and trust your heart when the time comes”</p><p>“How do you always know the right things to say?”</p><p>“I don’t know.” Liam shrugged “all I know is that a writer is the perfect job for me”</p><p>“Yes it is, especially when you write about me” Fallon grinned teasingly</p>
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<a name="section0040"><h2>40. Baby Sprinkle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam throw a baby sprinkle.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fallon was so happy to make it to 30 weeks pregnant. She was in the third trimester and everything was going smoothly with only 10 weeks to go. They were comfortable enough with the pregnancy now that they wanted to have a little get together to celebrate the baby. They decided to have a baby sprinkle instead of a full baby shower since Fallon still had to take it easy. </p><p>“We should plan to have it between Sophia’s two naps, that way she’ll be rested and happy and when the party is over we can just put her straight down when everyone leaves.”</p><p>“So, have people come over around 11:30 and leave at about 2:30?” Liam asked, for confirmation </p><p>“That’s what I was thinking, does that work for you?”</p><p>“Yep” Liam nodded “what day?”</p><p>“Next Saturday”</p><p>“That’s perfect” Liam said</p><p>“I’ll add it to the invitation. Oh, speaking of, who are we inviting?”</p><p>“Your parents, of course, the Colbys, Culhane, Adam, Kirby, Sam. You should invite Allison too, she’s been working her ass off trying to fill in for you. Let’s see...Anders, I think that’s it, that’s everyone close to us, add who else you can think of.” </p><p>“Great!” Fallon said, finishing typing up the names “I will get these invitations out to them today.”</p><p>“What is the theme going to be?” </p><p>“Well, most of them don’t know it’s a boy yet so I was thinking we could make it kind of gender neutral and tell them we’re having a boy while they’re here.”</p><p>“That’s a great idea! How do you want to reveal it?”</p><p>“We can just have cupcakes that are blue inside. I don’t want to do one of those ballon popping reveals, it would get confetti everywhere. I’ll order it tonight and say to have it ready on the morning of the party.”</p><p>“Sounds good. I’ll see if I can get someone to do the decorations the morning of the party too. Should I just say to go for a pink and blue theme?”</p><p>“Yeah, simple yet effective.” Fallon agreed</p><p>—————</p><p>The following Saturday, the day of the baby sprinkle, Fallon had the cake delivered and the decorating people came to set up. </p><p>“I’m going to go put Sophia down for her nap and get ready.” Fallon called to Liam as she walked up the stairs</p><p>“I’ll be up in a bit to get ready too, I’m just making sure the decorations are all in order” Liam shouted back</p><p>Fallon fed Sophia a bottle and then placed her in her crib and turned on the monitor. </p><p>“Sleep well baby girl” she whispered before placing a kiss on her daughter’s forehead</p><p>She then walked down the hall to the master bedroom where she had her outfit laid out on the bed. She had chosen to wear a long, form fitting, maternity dress that was pale blue with pink flowers to match the theme of the party and show off her baby bump.</p><p>Fallon did her make up first while Liam showered and then did her hair before getting fully dressed. She then went down to the living room to look at all the decorations which she was impressed with. There was pink and blue everywhere along with decorated tables of snacks, desserts, drinks, and activities for the guests to do. She smiled to herself as she looked around taking a moment to take it all in. She turned around as she heard Liam coming down the steps</p><p>“It looks good, doesn’t it?” He grinned, gesturing to the decorations </p><p>“Yeah! I was not expecting it to turn out so well.” Fallon said as Liam approached her</p><p>“Me too, but people will be arriving soon so is there any last minute things that need to get done?”</p><p>“I don’t think so, I just need to get Sophia dressed when she wakes up.” Fallon said as she tried to think of anything else</p><p>“Great, I’ll go check on the food to make sure it’s all ready for when people get here” </p><p>Just as the first cars started to arrive Fallon heard Sophia crying upstairs. She went to the front door and told the guests to let themselves in and that Liam would be out any minute before going to get her daughter.</p><p>Liam, hearing the commotion of people’s voices in the living room, left the food to greet their guests. About 10 minutes later Fallon entered the living room with Sophia on her hip. She had dressed the six month old in a pink and blue dress with white tights and a white bow clipped to her curly blonde hair.</p><p>Since they didn’t have very long for the party they started the activities right away. They had each guest that didn’t know the gender of the baby write down what they thought it was. They ended up with only an few more votes for boy than for girl. Then they each had to guess when Fallon would give birth and how big the baby would be. </p><p>After a few more games they ate lunch in the living room while they talked about the stuff going on in their lives and passed Sophia around. The baby girl was loving all of the attention which didn’t surprise Liam seeing how Fallon was her mother, but he thought it was cute nonetheless.</p><p>Finally, as the party was coming to a close, Liam got the cupcakes that would reveal the gender and handed one to each of the guests. They counted to three and everyone took a big bite out of their cakes</p><p>“A boy!” A few people cheered</p><p>“No way!” Sam yelled excitedly</p><p>Everyone was buzzing with the news, they were so happy for the little family. Everyone was hugging and congratulating the couple as they celebrated. </p><p>After about another 30 minutes Fallon could tell that Sophia was getting tired. She was being super clingy and was rubbing her eyes while her head rested on Liam’s shoulder. Liam was talking to Culhane while gently rocking from side to side with his head leaning against Sophia’s. Even though she knew she should go put Sophia to bed she couldn’t help admiring her husband as he so casually cuddled their daughter, he really was be best dad.</p><p>Liam glanced over at Fallon and noticed her staring at him. He smiled and gestured for her to come over to him.</p><p>“If you want, I can go put her down and you can keep talking with everyone, you seem like you need to have some adult interaction that isn’t me or the people at work”</p><p>“That would be really nice actually, thank you.” Fallon smiled </p><p>“I’ll be back down in a bit” Liam said before turning to go make a bottle.</p><p>Instead of sending everyone home they continued to chat for about an hour and a half more. They were all just enjoying themselves so much they didn’t want to end the party so soon. </p><p>When everyone did eventually go home Fallon went upstairs and laid down in bed for a bit while the party decorators took down all the decorations. Since she wasn’t really that tired she looked through all the books they had gotten from their guests. </p><p>Liam had convinced her that instead of getting gifts at the baby shower they should ask people to bring children’s books since books are so important to a child’s development. Fallon had begrudgingly agreed but now that she was looking though them all she was glad Liam had come up with this idea. She was just going through the last of the books when she heard Sophia’s cry from down the hall so she grabbed a few of the book to bring to read to her.</p><p>When Fallon walked into Sophia’s nursery the baby girl was sitting up in her crib and smiled wide when she saw her mother enter the room.</p><p>“Hi baby girl!” Fallon said in a happy voice “did you sleep good?” </p><p>She pulled the six month old into her arms and changed her diaper before sitting with her on the rocking chair to read to her. Liam came in while she was reading the second book and leaned against the door frame to watch and listen, admiring his pregnant wife reading quietly to their daughter. He smiled to himself and thought about how he couldn’t imagine not having his babies.</p>
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<a name="section0041"><h2>41. 38 Weeks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon goes into labor.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Liam can you please rub my feet” Fallon whined after getting home from work</p><p>“You shouldn’t wear those heels Fal, your feet are bigger and you are heavier than you were when you bought them.”</p><p>“I still want to look good, what do you want me to wear, flats? That’s a fashion nightmare.”</p><p>“Fine, come here” Liam said, patting the couch cushion next to him</p><p>Fallon kicked off her shoes and hurried over to the couch sitting down with her feet in liam’s lap where he started rubbing them.</p><p>“How was work?” He asked</p><p>“It was okay, I didn’t get much done because I was having a lot of Braxton Hicks and he kept kicking me in the ribs.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, hopefully this will make you feel a little better.” </p><p>“Believe me, it already is”</p><p>“Why don’t you go take a bath while I make dinner? Alexis has Sophia until six.”</p><p>Alexis had been watching Sophia during the afternoons so Liam could get some work done.<br/>Fallon took Liam’s offer and went to go run a bath, careful to not make it too hot. Her Braxton Hicks were pretty strong so she was hoping the warm water would relax her muscles a little bit. </p><p>Right as Fallon was stepping into the tub though, she felt a rush of liquid between her legs. She cried out in shock and tried to figure out if she had just peed herself or if her water had broken. She was 38 weeks pregnant so either option was a strong possibility but when she felt a fairly strong contraction in her back she was sure that her water broke.</p><p>“Oh god, oh god” she panicked </p><p>Liam was too far away to hear her yell so she got her phone and called him.</p><p>“Fal? Why are you calling from upstairs?”</p><p>“I think my water just broke, we need to go to the hospital.”</p><p>“Ok, um, let me call Alexis and see if she can keep Sophia overnight” Liam said, the panic evident in his voice</p><p>“Hurry, the contractions are getting stronger” Fallon gasped as another cramp squeezed her stomach</p><p>Liam hung up and called Alexis and quickly explained what was going on.</p><p>“I’m coming to the hospital” Alexis said </p><p>“No you’re not, you need to watch Sophia, I’ll call you if there are any updates when she gets checked.”</p><p>Liam rushed upstairs to find Fallon grabbing onto the side of the tub and groaning. He went over to her and rubbed her back to let her know he was there.</p><p>“Come on, let’s get you dressed” he said softly as he guided her to the closet</p><p>Liam helped her dress in a pair of loose pajama pants and a sweater before helping her down the stairs and to the car. He drove quickly, but carefully, to the nearest hospital while Fallon moaned in pain from the growing intensity of her contractions.</p><p>Once they were there Liam parked and then ran to get a wheelchair to bring Fallon inside. They were brought to a labor and delivery room where they placed monitors around Fallon’s stomach so they could keep an eye on the contractions and baby’s heartbeat. Considering Fallon’s history and the fact that her water had broken, they quickly got a doctor in to examine her. Dr. Johnson was not on call but she was coming to the hospital to deliver the baby since Fallon had a high risk pregnancy.</p><p>The doctor that was on call checked Fallon’s cervix and found that she was already four centimeters dilated.</p><p>“Looks like your body has been preparing for this for a while” he commented “have you been experiencing any stronger contractions than usual?”</p><p>“Yeah, today at work they were stronger than I was used to” Fallon told him in in between contractions</p><p>“If you would like, we can give you an epidural now” the doctor suggested seeing that Fallon was in quite a bit of pain</p><p>“Yes, I want an epidural” she groaned though another contraction while squeezing Liam’s hand</p><p>“I will call the anesthesiologist and he’ll come give it to you” the doctor said before leaving the room</p><p>“I though you said you didn’t want an epidural” Liam said as soon as the man left</p><p>“That was before I felt the pain, there is no way I am pushing a baby out without some kind of medication” </p><p>“Whatever you want babe, you’re the one birthing a human” </p><p>After what seemed like ages to Fallon, the anesthesiologist, the doctor, and a couple nurses reentered the room and started preparing for the injection.</p><p>“Ok Fallon, I am going to need you to sit up with your feet hanging off the side of the bed” one of the nurses told her as she helped her into the position “great job, now you are going to put your chin to your chest and stay as still as you possibly can. Liam, would you like to stand in front of her and hold her hands?” </p><p>Liam quickly came around the bed so he was in front of his wife and crouched down so she could look at him with her head down. He took her hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze. </p><p>The doctor was behind Fallon, sterilizing her back, as the anesthesiologist prepped the needle. </p><p>“Ok Mrs. Ridley, you are going to feel some pain as I inject the needle but you are going to have to stay very still, can you do that?”</p><p>“Yeah” Fallon said quietly before tensing as she got another contraction</p><p>“I’ll just wait for this contraction to pass and then I’ll insert the epidural”</p><p>Once the contraction was over the man carefully injected the needle in Fallon’s back and finished up giving her the epidural. When he was done Liam and a nurse helped her lie back down on the bed.</p><p>After the medication kicked in fully Fallon was much more comfortable. The nurses came in and checked on her every hour or so to make sure she was still progressing and that the baby was still doing okay. </p><p>“Will you call Blake and tell him I’m in labor?” Fallon asked Liam during the time they were alone in the hospital room</p><p>“Sure.” Liam nodded while taking out his phone.</p><p>He called Blake and told him the events of the past few hours and said he’d call with any more updates. Fallon had been adamant that she didn’t want any of her family members at the hospital so Liam also told him he’d call when she was ready to have visitors.</p><p>“You should try to get some sleep Fal. We could be here for hours and you need to be rested for when you have to push.” Liam said when he got off the phone</p><p>“I’m not tired” Fallon said flatly</p><p>“I know, but you should at least close your eyes for a bit”</p><p>“Can we call to check on Sophia first? It’s almost her bedtime and I haven’t seen her since this morning”</p><p>“As long as you promise to try to get some rest afterwords.” Liam bargained</p><p>“I promise, I just want to see my baby girl”</p><p>Liam pulled out his phone again and FaceTimed Alexis who picked up the call on the first ring. </p><p>“You had the baby already?!” Alexis blurted out when she answered the video call</p><p>“No, not yet, I’m still only seven centimeters” Fallon told her “I just wanted to see Sophia before she went to bed”</p><p>“Oh ok. She’s right here.” Alexis said as she pointed the camera in her direction “mama wants to see you” she said to the baby girl</p><p>Fallon talked to Sophia for a bit before Alexis had to go take her to bed to keep her on schedule. </p><p>—————</p><p>A few hours later Fallon was at nine centimeters so nurses starting preparing the room for the birth. Dr. Johnson had arrived a couple hours back so she had been by Fallon’s side helping her through the last bit of labor. </p><p>“We are going to do a few practice pushes now Fallon. This will help you know what to do when the time comes for you to actually push.” The obgyn told her seriously</p><p>“Wait, I’m not ready” Fallon panicked slightly</p><p>“Yes you are. You have done a fantastic job carrying this baby boy, and now he’s ready to meet you. You are more than capable of overcoming this last hurdle before you finally get to hold your son.” The woman said, calming Fallon down “I will be here guiding you through the birth and Liam will be here holding your hand and supporting you no matter what”</p><p>Liam emphasized her point by taking Fallon’s hand and squeezing it tightly. Fallon looked up at him for reassurance and he smiled before nodding and leaning down to kiss her forehead</p><p>“You got this” he whispered</p><p>Fallon was finally ready to practice pushing. Dr. Johnson had her do three strong pushes before checking to see how dilated she was.</p><p>“Ten centimeters! It’s time to meet your son”</p>
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<a name="section0042"><h2>42. Birth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon gives birth and they choose a name.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoy this one!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Ok Fallon, I’m going to need you to take a deep breath and then push as hard as you can for ten seconds” Dr. Johnson instructed her</p><p>Fallon took a deep breath while looking up at Liam who was standing by her side and holding her hand before bearing down and pushing hard while the obgyn counted to ten.</p><p>“Relax until your next contraction and then take another deep breath and push again.” </p><p>Fallon panted for a few seconds until she felt another contraction squeezing her stomach at which point she pushed again.</p><p>“Great job Fallon, those are nice strong pushes. Keep up that strength and your baby should be here in no time.” Dr. Johnson encouraged </p><p>They did this for another 30 minutes with no progress. The baby’s heart rate was dropping with each contraction indicating that his oxygen was being cut off and he was stressed. </p><p>“I think the umbilical cord is wrapped around baby’s neck.” The obgyn informed them “If he’s not out in the next 30 minutes we are going to have to take you for an emergency c-section so I need you to push as hard as you possibly can so we can avoid that.”</p><p>“I can’t” Fallon whimpered breathlessly</p><p>Liam wiped some sweat from her forehead with a damp washcloth while turning her face to look at him. She was exhausted. She had already had a full day of work that day and it was now the middle of the night after hours of labor.</p><p>“You can Fal. Do this for our son. I know you don’t want to be left with a big ugly scar on our stomach” Liam teased softly </p><p>“But I’m so tired” </p><p>“I know honey, but after he’s here you will be wide awake. Just push a couple more times. can you do that for me?”</p><p>Fallon nodded as a concentrated expression came over her face. She took a deep breath and pushed with all of her might at the next contraction.</p><p>“That’s it Fallon! I can see his hair, push push push!”</p><p>Hearing that her baby boy could now be seen propelled Fallon into a deep state of instinctual strength. She could no longer pay attention to anything other than her son. She pushed again as hard as the last time.</p><p>“Here’s his head, great job mama. Only a couple more until he’s here!”</p><p>Fallon, hardly listening anymore pushed three more times until she heard a shrill cry. Her eyes snapped open as her baby was placed on her chest, his cry music to her ears. She looked up at Liam and laughed breathlessly, their tear filled eyes meeting. </p><p>“You did it Fal” Liam whispered before leaning down to kiss her lips</p><p>“Dad, do you want to cut the cord?” Dr. Johnson asked </p><p>“Yeah!” Liam said enthusiastically as he moved to where the young woman was standing</p><p>While Liam was doing that Fallon let out a sob as she looked down at her beautiful baby boy. He had lots of brown hair, the color matching hers perfectly. </p><p>Liam cut the cord, which was tougher than he expected, and then went back to stand by Fallon’s head.</p><p>“His name is Oliver James” Fallon decided right there while looking at him</p><p>“It’s perfect” Liam said as he reached out to gently stroke the baby’s tiny cheek.</p><p>“I’m sorry to interrupt, but we are going to have to take him to get some tests done, weigh him, and clean him up.” A nurse said as she walked towards them</p><p>Fallon held her baby tighter and gave the nurse a a glare</p><p>“Don’t worry, we won’t be long and we’ll stay in the room the whole time.” The woman reassured her</p><p>Fallon gave in and let Oliver be taken to the corner of the room where she watched intently from the bed.</p><p>“Will you go be with him?” She asked Liam Who nodded and went over to watch</p><p>“Ok Fallon, I know you are tired, but you are going to have to deliver the placenta now.” Dr. Johnson spoke up from between Fallon’s legs</p><p>Fallon had completely forgotten about the young woman down there and was startled to hear a voice coming from that direction. </p><p>“It shouldn’t take too long, you’ll be done before Oliver is and then you can try feeding him!” The obgyn assured her</p><p>Fallon spent the next 15 minutes pushing to get her placenta out while Liam continued to watch their son get all of his tests done. They weighed him and discovered he was six pounds and two ounces. They then cleaned him a little bit, put a diaper on, and swaddled him before handing him to Liam.</p><p>Liam looked at his baby boy for a few moments before walking back to Fallon and handing the infant to her. Fallon took her baby into her arms gently and cradled him against her chest. </p><p>“Now would be a good time to do skin to skin” a nurse suggested “it’ll encourage him to eat and it is a good bonding experience for both of you.”</p><p>Fallon took the advice and handed Oliver to Liam so she could pull down her gown. Liam, while he was holding the baby, undid his swaddle, causing him to whimper at the sudden coldness but as soon as he was on Fallon’s chest with a blanket over the two of them he settled down right away and fell back asleep. </p><p>“I bet when he wakes up he’ll be ready to eat.” Liam said while looking at the two of them lovingly</p><p>Fallon stayed in that position for a couple hours, even managing to get a little bit of sleep herself before Oliver started to stir against her chest. He was turning his head with his mouth open and grunting.</p><p>“Liam” Fallon whispered to try to wake her sleeping husband</p><p>“What” Liam said, startled and sitting up quickly</p><p>“I think he’s hungry. Will you go get a nurse to help me feed him?”</p><p>“Yeah” Liam said quietly while standing up.</p><p>A few minutes later Liam returned to the hospital room with a young nurse. </p><p>“I hear your little man is hungry” she said cheerily</p><p>“I think so, he looks like he’s trying to eat.” Fallon replied </p><p>“Ok then, why don’t you sit up a little bit and prop this pillow under your arm to support him.” The nurse instructed which Fallon did “Great! Now hold him against your chest with his mouth level with your nipple and gently touch his lips to it” </p><p>Fallon did as she was told and Oliver latched right away, starting to suckle hungrily.</p><p>“He’s doing it!” Fallon exclaimed quietly</p><p>“He got it on the first try, that’s awesome!” The young woman praised “It’s not often that babies latch so quickly, you’re going to have a good eater.” </p><p>Liam watched in awe as Fallon fed their baby boy for the first time. It was possibly the most surreal day he had ever experienced and it made him realize just how amazing his wife was. He couldn’t have asked for a better life partner and mother to his children.</p><p>“I love you so much Fallon” he whispered as he stroked her hair softly</p>
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<a name="section0043"><h2>43. Family of Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fallon and Liam enjoy some time alone with Oliver, a mystery guest pays a visit, and the family comes to meet the new baby.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the last chapter. Thank you all for reading all the way to the end and for following along this little journey of mine.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fallon and Liam spent the day after Fallon gave birth recovering and spending time as just the three of them before everyone came to visit. They missed Sophia a lot but they couldn’t deny that it was nice to spend this time with Oliver before they all came together as a family. </p><p>Oliver was eating and sleeping well so they were able to get in some decent sleep considering they had a newborn. Liam took care of all the diapers while Fallon obviously handled the feedings. </p><p>Liam got to give Oliver his first sponge bath which went way better than Sophia’s had, he just slept through the whole thing, and then Fallon dressed him in his first outfit, a tiny blue long sleeved onesie. </p><p>“Why don’t you call everyone and tell them that can come visit tomorrow” Fallon suggested that evening while she was feeding Oliver. </p><p>“As long as you’re sure you’re ready” </p><p>“I’m ready, I want to see my baby girl.”</p><p>Liam called everyone and told them they could come visit the next day and made sure Alexis would bring Sophia so she could meet her new little brother. </p><p>“You’re going to love your sister” Fallon whispered to Oliver “She is so funny. Someday you guys will be best friends”</p><p>“I’m excited to see her tomorrow. I wonder how she will react to him” Liam said</p><p>“I don’t thinks she’ll really understand what’s going on since she’s only 9 months old but hopefully she won’t try to throw him like she does with her dolls” Fallon chuckled</p><p>“I forgot she did that” Liam laughed “we’ll have to help her realize that he’s alive and not a doll.”</p><p>“Mr. Ridley?” A nurse said while walking into the room “there is someone here to see you, she’s in the waiting room”</p><p>“I’m not expecting anyone. Did she tell you her name?” Liam asked, thoroughly confused</p><p>“She wouldn’t say, she just said that it was urgent and she needed to see you right away” the woman explained</p><p>Liam looked over at Fallon for permission to go investigate who this mystery woman was.</p><p>“Go. I’ll be fine” Fallon said, shooing him with a flick of her wrist</p><p>“I’ll be quick”</p><p>Liam walked out of the room and down the hall to the waiting room where he stopped dead in his tracks</p><p>“Mom!”</p><p>“Liam! Darling, how are you?” Laura said cheerily with a tone of disapproval</p><p>“What are you doing here?” Liam asked harshly, choosing to ignore her question</p><p>“I heard from some of my friends that my son had adopted a daughter and his wife was pregnant with another baby” Laura explained “How come I didn’t hear all this straight from you? Honestly, I’m a little hurt Liam” </p><p>“Because I don’t want anything to do with you.” Liam snarled “you are not going to meet my children, Fallon and I have decided that that is what’s best for our family.”</p><p>“Oh come on, you’re not going to let me see my grandchildren?” </p><p>“No.” Liam said firmly “you are going to turn around and walk right back out of this hospital and leave us alone”</p><p>“But-“</p><p>“No!” Liam yelled, cutting her off “I am done with you and all of your little games. Go!” He nearly shouted while pointing at the door</p><p>Laura huffed and turned on her heel, marching out of the building. When she was gone, Liam took a deep breath to compose himself and then went to the front desk to tell them not to let her in if they saw her again. He had no doubt she would try again so he also called the staff at home to tell them to keep an eye out for her. He walked back to their hospital room where Fallon was waiting eagerly to hear who the woman was</p><p>“Well, who was it?” She asked when he didn’t say anything</p><p>“Just some press woman. She wanted to do a story on the newest Ridley but I sent her away.” Liam lied</p><p>“Oh.” Fallon said with a hint of disappointment in her voice. She was kind of hoping it would be something more interesting.</p><p>—————</p><p>The next morning Blake and Crystal came first to visit. Alexis and Sophia were coming in the afternoon between the baby girl’s two naps.</p><p>“How are you sweetheart?” Blake asked when he walked in the room</p><p>“I’m in a lot less pain today and we got a little bit of sleep last night so I’m actually doing pretty good.” Fallon replied “Do you want to hold him” she asked, holding the baby out for her father to take</p><p>Blake gently pulled his grandson into his arms and looked at him while softly stroking his face. </p><p>“He looks just like you did when you were a baby Fallon. What’s his name?”</p><p>“Oliver James Ridley” Liam spoke up</p><p>“Hi Oliver. I’m your grandpa” Blake whispered to the baby boy</p><p>He continued holding his grandson for quite some time before finally allowing Crystal to have a turn. </p><p>“I think he’s got your nose Liam” Crystal noticed “but everything else is definitely Fallon”</p><p>“That’s fine by me, I’m glad he looks just like the woman I love” Liam said while glancing over at his wife who was too busy watching their son to hear what he said</p><p>—————</p><p>After Blake and Crystal left Alexis came with Sophia. She quietly entered the room, which was very out of her style, with Sophia on her hip and a smile on her face.</p><p>“There’s my new grand baby!” She whispered excitedly while handing Sophia over to Liam “can I hold him?”</p><p>“Sure, just wash your hands first” Fallon said and Alexis did as she was instructed before going over to the bassinet that had the baby in it</p><p>“Oh, he is so cute! He looks just like you Fallon”</p><p>“So we’ve heard” chucked Fallon </p><p>Meanwhile, Liam was absolutely loving on Sophia. He was hugging her tight and kissing every part of her he could reach causing the little girl to let out a loud belly laugh. She had definitely missed her parents. Sophia looked over at Fallon and tried to lunge out of liams grip to get to her</p><p>“Mama” Sophia said loudly</p><p>Everyone in the room gasped as Liam placed her on Fallon’s lap. </p><p>“Did she just-“ Fallon started</p><p>“She said mama!” Liam exclaimed </p><p>“Yes, I’m mama!” Fallon said to her daughter as tears started to swell in her eyes.</p><p>She hugged her precious baby girl tight in her arms ignoring the pain it caused her stomach. She hadn’t realize how much she had missed her, she was so caught up with Oliver, so she made a mental note to remember to spend some alone time with Sophia so she wouldn’t get left out. </p><p>“I’ll give you two some time with your kids” Alexis said before handing Oliver to Liam and walking out of the room</p><p>“That was very mature of her” Liam commented</p><p>“What, giving us time alone with them?”</p><p>“Yeah! She’s usually all about being the center of attention. I guess having grandchildren changed her”</p><p>“I’m just glad it was for the better” Fallon joked</p><p>Liam went and sat on the side of the bed next to Fallon and Sophia and took one of his wife’s hands in his.</p><p>“Look at us. Two kids under one year old.” Liam said quietly</p><p>“It’s perfect.” Fallon whispered as she looked up at him, tears still in her eyes “It’s everything I ever imagined”</p>
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